Update: A GoFundMe page has been created to help support Andrea Pavan and his family throughout his recovery. One of Pavan’s college teammates, Matt Van Zandt, wrote:
Andrea fell three stories down an open elevator shaft in his lodging when the elevator doors opened with no car present. He was rushed to a local hospital with significant injuries to his shoulder and back, including severe shoulder damage and fractures to several vertebrae. He has already undergone at least one major surgery and will need ongoing medical care and additional procedures. Doctors expect him to remain in South Africa for many weeks before he can be safely evaluated for travel back to the U.S. Andrea’s wife, Audra, is en route to be with him, and his sister is traveling from abroad as well. Several fellow players and friends have already visited Andrea in the hospital and say that he is in good spirits.
International medical care, extended hospitalization, ongoing medical procedures and care, and prolonged recovery will create unexpected and significant financial strain. This fundraiser seeks to ease that burden for Andrea, Audra and his three kids so they can focus on what matters most: healing, support, and family time. Funds will go toward medical expenses, extended stay in South Africa, transportation back home to the Dallas area, ongoing medical care and hopefully some extra to ease the uncertainty of his professional golf future.
Pavan then later released a statement through the DP World Tour:
“I would like to say a big thank you for all the kind words and wishes I have received over the last 48 hours. I had surgery on my shoulder and my back on Wednesday evening and I am currently recovering in hospital.
“I now have a lot of rehab and hard work ahead of me, but the care I have received so far from the Mediclinic hospital staff has been incredible, as has the support from the DP World Tour, the Sunshine Tour and all their staff here in Stellenbosch. I am also very grateful for all the help Johann Rupert and his wife Gaynor have given me.
“The last two days have been difficult, but I am in very good hands and to have so many players, caddies and staff visit and contact me has meant a lot to me.
“Grazie mille everyone, from me, my wife Audra, and my entire family.”
Original story: Andrea Pavan has withdrawn from the DP World Tour’s Investec South African Open due to injuries sustained in a freak accident.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.
