When Matthieu Pavon joined the PGA Tour in January 2024 after earning a tour card in late 2023 via his top-15 finish in the DP World Tour Race to Dubai, no one expected him to make history. But he did by winning the Farmers Insurance Open in just three starts, becoming the first French player to win a PGA Tour event in the modern era and the first from France to win since Arnaud Massy in 1907. Cut to 2026, he’s missing cuts at a rate that threatens his tour card.

Pavon opened 2026 with a T55 at the Sony Open. Since then, he’s missed 11 cuts. The latest came at the Wyndham Championship, where he shot two rounds of 70 at Sedgefield Country Club and failed to make the 3-under cutline. What makes this loss worse is that this is his fifth consecutive missed cut. On August 8, 2026, Pavon took to X to talk about how the losses have affected him mentally.

“It has been a very tough couple of weeks, missing the cut every time on the last 3 holes of the tournament… It’s a very hard time for me professionally, I’m not gonna lie… but what I can promise is that I’ll keep working as hard as I can to get back on track.”

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Pavon has been in the winning circles before, and it won’t be surprising if he overcomes his struggles soon. However, he may not have much time to do that. Pavon’s winner’s exemption expires after 2026. To stay, he must either win or crack the top 100 in the FedEx Cup standings.

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But how did Pavon suddenly lose form? Last year, he opened up to Sports Illustrated about the real culprit: his move to America. For Pavon, the issue wasn’t the location; it was his focus on quantity rather than quality.

“The facilities are tremendous, and it’s hard to stay home and do something different… The problem is that when I was in Europe (full time), the way I was practicing was more quality over quantity. I had more free time. I could work on my body. Since I’ve been in America, the way I train is not as balanced. Much more time on the golf course than before. It’s new things. And adjustment.”

The French golfer revealed he was ‘mentally’ burnt out after spending a year in America and was not feeling as fresh as he did in his first PGA Tour season. Pavon tried to solve the issue by hiring a new coach and changing his swing path, but failed.

Although Pavon seems to have lost his form, hopefully he will have regained it by September, when the Biltmore Championship is in Asheville.