Matthieu Pavon became the first Frenchman to win on the PGA Tour after taking the title at the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open by a single shot at Torrey Pines. Throughout the final round at Torrey Pines' South Course near San Diego, fans watching on TV saw Pavon hold the golf club with his hands and see he has a tattoo on it.
After Pavon had won the tournament, he spoke with CBS Sports' Amanda Balionis about the win and did mention the tattoo on his hand.
The tattoo reads, "The saliva that flows now will become the tears of joy tomorrow."
The insinuation is that the work he puts in throughout his life will ultimately lead to happiness and results that he wants. He also talked about the importance of having a clarity of purpose after winning.
"Since I won in Spain last year, I write down some notes in my book which bring me back to the present moment," he said.
"You know how it is on the golf course, sometimes your head flies away a little bit and you have to get back to the present moment to refocus yourself. Sentences like they are telling me why I play golf, why I'm here. They show me -- they give me a little extra confidence. I think it's really keen in sports, the more confidence you get, the easiest it could be and those sentences are there for."
Pavon has been proof positive of what hard work and a clear mind can mean in the last six months, making birdies on the final four holes of the DP World Tour season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai to earn one of 10 PGA Tour cards available for the highest finishers on that tour's season-long points race. Then, in just his third start as a PGA Tour member, Pavon became a winner and will now find his way into all of the Signature events for the rest of the year, as well as the Players, the Masters, the PGA Championship and, likely, the Open.
