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Two‑time DP World Tour winner Andrea Pavan was seriously injured after falling down an elevator shaft.
Two‑time DP World Tour winner Andrea Pavan was seriously injured this week after falling down an elevator shaft. According to a report from the golf news outlet Monday Q Info, the fall occurred in a hotel in South Africa, where the European tour is playing this week.
Andrea Pavan’s Accident
GettyAndrea Pavan won the DP World Tour’s 2019 BMW International Open.
Multiple people familiar with the situation told Monday Q Info that Pavan stepped into an elevator after the doors opened, but the lift car was not present. He subsequently fell several floors, sustaining significant injuries.
Pavan, 34, underwent hours of surgery following the fall. While the injuries were described as severe, Monday Q Info sources said they did not appear to be life‑threatening.
Tour officials have not yet released a public statement regarding the circumstances of the accident or Pavan’s condition. Details about the venue, the nature of the malfunction, and whether other players or staff were affected were not immediately available.
The golf community expressed concern as news of the accident circulated online. Monday Q Info asked followers to keep Pavan and his family in their thoughts as he recovers.
Further updates on Pavan’s condition are expected as more information becomes available.
Who is Andrea Pavan?
Pavan began his golf career as a child, developing his skills on the junior and amateur circuits in his country and in Europe. Among other tournaments, he won the Italian Amateur Strokeplay Championship twice. In 2006, he traveled to the United States to join the Texas A&M men’s team.
He played four seasons for the Aggies. His main achievements included winning the 2010 John Burns Intercollegiate and being part of the team that won the 2009 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship. In 2010, he graduated and immediately began his professional career.
Pavan spent his first seven seasons as a professional alternating between the European Tour and the second-tier Challenge Tour. While his results on the former were inconsistent at best, he demonstrated great consistency on the latter, winning four times between 2011 and 2013.
GettyAndrea Pavan won the DP World Tour’s 2018 Czech Masters.
The 2018 season represented a breakthrough for Pavan on the European Tour. That year, he won the Czech Masters and finished in four other top-10s, surpassing €1 million in on-course earnings for the first time.
A year later, his success continued. He returned to the winner’s circle with the 2019 BMW International Open title and earned four more top-10 finishes. He again surpassed €1 million in earnings.
However, he then experienced inconsistent results, returning to the Challenge Tour in 2023. That year, he won his fifth title on that circuit.
So far in the 2026 season, Pavan had played five tournaments on the DP World Tour, making four cuts and achieving a T9 at the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship as his best result. Another strong finish for him was a T14 at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. His only missed cut came at the Qatar Masters two weeks ago.
Pavan does not appear on the current entry list for this week’s DP World Tour event, the Investec South African Open Championship. It is unclear whether he had planned to compete.
Julio Valdera Julio Valdera is a sports writer specializing in golf coverage for Heavy Sports. He has reported on the sport across major international tours, delivering breaking news, event analysis, and player-focused storytelling. Before joining Heavy, he covered golf for Newsweek and Sportskeeda, building a reputation for clear, engaging reporting and a strong command of the game’s competitive landscape. His broader journalism experience spans technology, politics, and international events. More about Julio Valdera
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