Andrea Pavan has withdrawn from the DP World Tour’s Investec South African Open due to injuries sustained in a freak accident.
First reported by Monday Q Info and confirmed by Golf Channel via multiple people with knowledge of the accident, the 36-year-old Pavan was hospitalized on Wednesday after he fell down an elevator shaft in the building where he was staying near Cape Town, South Africa.
According to Golf Channel’s sources, who are part of a text thread with some of Pavan’s closest friends on tour and former college teammates at Texas A&M, Pavan had called for the elevator, but when the doors opened, there was no cab. Not realizing it, Pavan stepped through the doors, only to fall three stories below. Pavan was transported to a nearby hospital with multiple injuries, including to his shoulder and back, and underwent extensive surgeries on Wednesday night.
“By all accounts, he’s in good spirits, thankful to be alive and FaceTiming with his kids,” said Pavan’s former college coach, J.T. Higgins, who had not spoken to Pavan yet but was being updated on his condition.
A DP World Tour official confirmed to Golf Channel that Pavan had withdrawn from the tournament due to injury but was unable to provide further detail. Because Pavan has no agent, a message was sent to Pavan, though understandably, it’s not been returned.
Pavan owns eight professional wins worldwide, including two on the DP World Tour. His most recent on the European circuit was the 2019 BMW International Open. He played collegiately at Texas A&M, where he was on the 2009 NCAA Championship team. He’s played in three majors, including last year’s U.S. Open, where he missed the cut.
This season, Pavan owns a pair of top-15s, including a T-9 in Bahrain earlier this month.