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It has long been debated in the golfing world - where does winning an Olympic gold medal stack up against lifting a major championship trophy? For most players who embarked upon their professional journeys, it was capturing one of golf's four biggest prizes that topped their list of ambitions. However, speaking ahead of this week's debut of men's golf at the 2024 Paris Olympics, French star Matthieu Pavon declared that winning gold on home soil would in fact surpass any major victory in his eyes.

Pavon will walk out as one of the favourites for gold at Le Golf National, having cemented his place in history earlier this year with a signature win at the Farmers Insurance Open. That triumph at Torrey Pines brought him both Tour validation and secured his position in the two-man French team for these Games. While those past dreams focused squarely on lifting trophies at Augusta, Royal St George's and beyond, Pavon's perspective has evolved since qualifying for Paris 2024.

“It’s really difficult to say,” Pavon revealed. "We don’t grow up like the track and field and fencing and dreaming of a Gold Medal. It wasn’t really on the radar when we were kids when your first dreams are made.”

Two men's golfers, including Matthieu Pavon, will represent France in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Pavon's teammate Victor Perez echoed those sentiments, having been blown away by the reception from the packed stands at the Opening Ceremony. While neither imagined the Olympics would hold such significance in their golfing careers years ago, being immersed in the atmosphere of a home Games has heightened the desire to deliver for their adoring public.

“Obviously seeing how much people obviously care and the fans, I was just shocked at how many people came to the ceremony," said Perez. "It was raining like crazy and people were still cheering for us from balconies overlooking the Seine in Paris. Definitely it meant a lot and enhanced the feel and the wanting for the Gold Medal for sure.”

Whether or not gold in Paris does ultimately outrank major glory for Pavon remains to be seen. But for the in-form Frenchman carrying his nation's hopes this week, the opportunity to make history on home soil brings a significance that now even eclipses his boyhood dreams of major marketing. The battle for Olympic golfing supremacy is on.

“It was one of the goals this year but it really started in January. It was something I wanted to achieve before that,” Pavon added. “Qualifying for the PGA Tour was my first goal. Then won the tournament in Torrey and all of a sudden you’re in the mix and put forward and you’re almost guaranteed to be in the team. From that moment that I really realized and that kind of dream become really a goal that I had to prepare for.”