“With Matthew, we didn’t see much of each other this week because he competed at the Amex (The American Express in La Quinta, California where he finished 39th) on Sunday evening, when I was already there. The tournament started on Wednesday, but we couldn’t do anything on Monday as it rained. He didn’t do any raking on the South Course (where the tournament was played), he just walked because on Tuesday he trained up North while I was down South. We were supposed to play a game of rake together but in the end, as strange as it may seem, we hardly saw each other all week because he was playing against me a little …
His performance is the result of a brief increase in power. After the French Open (failed cut late last September) he still had some big performances. The win in Spain really launched him and unlocked a lot of things, the confidence in his game, all the work he does with his staff, in his swing with Jamie (Goff his coach) or in his swing with John (Carlson, his specific putting coach). ). We can say the job is done. In the final (of the DP World Tour in Dubai), he had one last shot to shoot and hit it on the mark, finishing with four birdies on Sunday to get his card right on target.
Since then, it is this dynamic that makes us play comfortably. He hasn’t cut back much this winter, as he’s off to Reunion (to compete in the French Doubles Championship) and then to Mauritius where he’s a golf ambassador. So he was able to continue this momentum, and he had a really good start to the season at Sony (7th) and played well last week, even if he obviously would have liked to do better (39th).
This week, he put himself on a super difficult course. He showed a lot of courage by making complicated putts at the end of the game where many said he would not be able to withstand the pressure with his big fade (spin from left to right). He proved them wrong. He was able to get the job done by taking courage in both hands from the rough on the 18th and putting the ball 2 meters from the flag to close the door and not even go into the play-off…
So it’s a great win for him, very important, it opens the door for him for the majors this year. I am happy for him because we are very close because we both work with the same physical trainer (Ben Shear) and the same physiotherapist (Jeremy da Silva). And it’s also a big step forward for all of French golf. It allows everyone to see that it is possible to get on the PGA Tour, win, and do it in a short amount of time. Bravo to him, I imagine he had a good evening before we spoke on the phone. He deserves it, he did a really good job. »
