Matthieu Pavon in Jon Rahm’s game at the Spanish Open

Defending champion Matthieu Pavon will share the game with the player who precedes him in the tournament’s list of winners, the former world number 1 who left for the LIV at the end of last year, Jon Rahm.

Two weeks before the FedEx Open de France, nine French players will be at the start of the Open d’Espagne this Thursday. Among them, the French number 1 Matthew Pavon and his former teammate from the St Laurent Golf Team Victor Perez.

The two players who now play on the PGA Tour are participating in their 4th and 2nd regular tournament respectively. DP World Round.

The Bordeaux native is in a good position (43rd in the Race) to qualify for the DP World Tour Playoffs (the Abu Dhabi Championship and the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai) and will try to defend the title won last year on the Madrid course of Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.

While the Tarbais, 160th overall, finally opted for the trip to the Spanish capital in the hope of scoring more points in the Race than last week at Wentworth and thus getting closer to the top 70 qualifying for the first major meeting in the Emirates where he hopes to also be able to defend his title.

Jon Rahm aims for quadruple

Pavon will be associated in the first two rounds with two heavyweights of the last Ryder Cup in Rome, Jon Rahm and the Austrian Sepp Straka.

The Spanish golf star and three-time winner of the tournament (2018, 2019, 2022) is present, although his participation has long been debated following his departure on the LIV and his refusal to pay the sanctions imposed by the DP World Tour.

This featured game will start at 2 p.m. on Thursday 1st and at 9:10 a.m. on Friday 10th.

Perez also with a former winner

For his part, Victor Perez will have as his companions the Japanese former world number 1 amateur Keita Nakajima and the Spanish Rafa Cabrera Bello, victorious in 2021. He will start on the 10th at 8:50 a.m. on Thursday and on the 1st at 1:40 p.m. on Friday.

With 25 Iberian players at the start, few French players are not associated with a local player, the prize going to Romain Langasque. The highest ranked French player in the Race (15th) will be accompanied by Sebastian Garcia and Alejandro Del Rey. He will start in the game that follows that of Matthieu Pavon.

Coussaud with the “Beef”

If Antoine Rozner has decided to skip the 5th meeting of the “back9” of the DP World Tour, the other major French player at the BMW PGA Championship in Wentworth last weekend Ugo Coussaud will be there. He will play with Andrew “Beef” Johnson and Luis Masaveu at 9:30 on the 1st Thursday and at 2:20 on the 10th Friday.

©Getty/AFP