At the end of the first lap there is a Texan in the lead at the Italian Open. But it is not the long-awaited Patrick Reed, the international star that all the spectators – very many for Thursday – are looking for and following on the fairways of Cervia. The Texan who leads the ranking is not American, he is very Italian, his name is Andrea, his surname is Pavan. He was born in Rome, as a boy he wore the blue shirt a thousand times in various youth tournaments, but he lives in Texas, in Lucas, with his wife Audra and their three children, Luca, Sofia and Julia. Andrea and Audra met in college, he graduated from Texas A&M, and after an attempt at living in Italy, in 2015 they decided to return to the United States and put down roots there. American for love, Italian for everything else, even if as soon as the tour was over little Luca and Sofia ran to hug him and exchanged a few words in English, the family language. “They understand Italian, but they speak it little” Andrea often explains.
what a fantastic ride
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Pavan finished the first round at the Adriatic Golf Club in 64 strokes (-7), no one did better than him. A perfect day, without even a bogey and with seven birdies, the last at the eighteenth, just to end with the sweet taste of a putt rolling gently into the hole. “I think it’s the best ride of the year and I’m really happy that it happened here in Italy” he said at the end. And Andrea thinks so, he shot 65 in the last round in Amsterdam last week, when he finished in fourth place and so far it was his record for 2024. Yesterday’s 64 is a further step forward in a moment of excellent form. “It was a perfect day, I’m very happy, it’s important to start on the right foot. I played well last week, it’s true, but I feel like I’ve been doing well for a while, even if I maybe missed a few putts up close, I missed a few shots and couldn’t recover. Instead today (yesterday, ed.) I made a few mistakes and then I holed those putts from two or three meters which make the difference. In every match the putt is important because it is difficult to put the ball one metre, you have to earn birdies especially on the green. But it’s true that on this course you have to play well almost everywhere, it’s also important to get it in the fairway because if you miss the line you pay. Luckily I didn’t see much of the rough… .”.
the crisis
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Andrea Pavan’s is the story of a champion of stubbornness. An excellent amateur, a good professional with two victories on the major tour, he entered a period of crisis a few years ago which had caused him to slip to number 1700 in the world rankings with an almost ridiculous – if it hadn’t been dramatic – series of missed cuts and embarrassing results. Some wondered how he could go on. It was said that he developed a tic on the drive that led him to always miss the first shot. He had once explained that part of the responsibility was also due to a physical problem: “I had started playing badly and I tried to change my game. I placed my wrist differently during the swing, perhaps I practiced too much and got inflamed. For Luckily I didn’t have surgery, but I had to stop.”
the rebirth
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The turning point eighteen months ago: “Since the end of 2022 I have a new coach, Chris O’Connell, who sees golf like me. I have returned to a more natural and instinctive swing. In this sport there are teachers who are good for some players and not for others. I know that I am returning to a good level, but I also know that there is a long way to go to get back to how I was when I played well, in 2018 and 2019”. Last year he won a tournament on the Challenge Tour in the Czech Republic which allowed him to return to the main circuit where after some difficulties he is finding solidity and continuity. Last week he achieved a fourth place in Holland in the tournament won by Guido Migliozzi thanks to an extraordinary fourth round. And he started off strong here in Cervia on a course that is probably less simple than many players thought: “The organizers tried to hide the flags a bit, but there was little wind and the greens were soft. However, the fact that none of the players know the course well can make it more delicate, then it will happen that, going forward, you will know it better and therefore it will be a bit easier to tackle it”. Yesterday, after the round, he took the children to the beach, he had promised them, and relaxed with his family. Today he will return to the course in the afternoon, at 12.50. For the first time in a long time, he will be the hare and everyone will look at his score before the others.
