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Pavon powers to wire-to-wire win in Madrid for maiden DP World Tour title
South African Zander Lombard carded a bogey-free 64 to finish as the nearest challenger
Matthieu Pavon (Fr), winner of the acciona Open de España presented by Madrid moves up 45 spots in the Race to Dubai Rankings to number 20 on the DP World Tour. - Supplied photo
Matthieu Pavon powered to a maiden DP World Tour title in wire-to-wire style as he won the Acciona Open de España presented by Madrid by four shots in the Spanish capital.
The Frenchman arrived at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid with three runner-up finishes on both the European Challenge and DP World Tours but had never won a European Tour group event despite being an incredibly consistent performer over eight seasons.
One of those runner-up finishes was here 12 months ago but he always looked like going one better after an opening 63 and followed up with rounds of 68-66-64 to get to 23 under and claim an ultimately convincing victory.
Pavon claimed a maiden professional win on the Alps Tour in 2014 and followed up with another in 2015, the same year he earned a Challenge Tour card by reaching the final stage of the DP World Tour Qualifying School.
His single season on the Challenge Tour saw him finish sixth on the Road to Mallorca with the help of those second places and since then, he has finished in the top 100 on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex in every year barring one.
The 30-year-old already had four top-tens in 2023 when he changed his driver and putter during Ryder Cup week as he finished second at the Open d'Arcachon on home soil.
Another followed at last week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and he now enters the winner's circle in his 185th DP World Tour appearance and in the city of his late grandfather's birth.
South African Zander Lombard carded a bogey-free 64 to finish as the nearest challenger, one clear of England's Nathan Kimsey and two ahead of German Marcel Siem and Paraguay's Fabrizio Zanotti.
Siem revealed that a 61 was the plan all along after he carded his lowest DP World Tour round by three shots. In 519 previous events he had never gone lower than 64 but he had a chip on the last for a 59 in his ten under-par effort. Zanotti was bogey-free with seven birdies in a 64 to sit a shot ahead of Frenchman Julien Guerrier and English pair Dan Bradbury and Richard Mansell, who carded rounds of 67, 66 and 65 respectively.
Defending champion Jon Rahm ended his week with a 64 to finish at 14 under alongside fellow Spaniard Alfredo Garcia-Heredia, French duo Romain Langasque and Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Scot Ewen Ferguson, Dane Marcus Helligkilde, Kiwi Daniel Hillier and Finn Kalle Samooja.
With this win, Pavon moves up 45 places to 20 on the Race to Dubai Rankings.
Kimsey rises 12 spots to 27th and Lombard 27 places to 31st.
The Race to Dubai Rankings are led by Rory McIlroy (NI) and followed by Jon Rahm.
ALSO READ
The Top players in the Race to Dubai Rankings following the $6 million Nedbank Golf Challenge finishing on Sunday, November 12, 2023, will qualify to play in the season-ending event on the DP World Tour - the $10 million DP World Tour Championship, Dubai to be held on Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, from November 16 to 19, 2023.
Final Scores
Pavon (FR) 63. 68. 66. 64. 261. Z. Lombard (RSA) 66. 70. 65. 64.265. N. Kimsey (Eng) 66. 68. 65. 67. 266. M. Siem (Ger) 66. 69. 71. 61. 267.
Zanotti (Par) 70. 65. 68. 64. 267.
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