Matthieu Pavon looked back on a life-changing year as he returned to the acciona Open de España presented by Madrid to make his first defence of a DP World Tour title.
The Frenchman broke through last autumn at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid and since then has seen his career go from strength to strength as he rocketed up the Official World Golf Ranking.
His win in Spain helped him qualify for the DP World Tour Championship, where four closing birdies moved him up both the leaderboard and the DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex, securing him dual membership with the PGA TOUR.
He grabbed his opportunity across the Atlantic with both hands, winning the Farmers Insurance Open and competing in all four Major Championships, finishing 12th at the Masters Tournament and fifth at the U.S. Open, as well as representing his country at the Olympics.
He now arrives back in the Spanish capital as France's top player at 26th in the world and admits it has been a whirlwind since he was last here.
"That's going to be a life-changer," he said. "The thing is, I waited so long to win finally on the DP World Tour and we got that win. It gave us a little bit of momentum and confidence and I kept building on that confidence.
"Finally arrived in America, just happy to be there, enjoying every moment I could because you never know when it's going to end, really.
"I got my first win and it kind of opened the door to all the biggest events on the PGA TOUR, which was just unbelievable.
"I don't feel I'm a different person. The thing is, the year goes so quick. You're so focused on what you have to do every week. The tournaments are very intense in America and then also then you're a year later and you're back here in Madrid.
"So you don't really have time to reflect. It's more about taking one day at a time.
"It's a strange feeling. It's the first time I'm defending a title. I'm really happy to be here. A lot of good memories.
"Played nine holes yesterday and the pro-am this morning, I can see all the shots I hit last year. Good memories only. It was pretty special walking down the golf course the last two days."
Pavon is without a top ten since that top-five finish at Pinehurst but feels his game is in a good place after last week's BMW PGA Championship.
"I was pretty happy playing Wentworth last week," he said. "Let's say the game was a bit rusty. Didn't get my best but it was going better through the week and my practice rounds so far has been really positive.
"I feel ready to defend."
