Pavan dreaming of a victory song ...with a little help from Hibs boss!

WITH little over 20 miles separating the two venues, the sound of Easter Road in full voice would almost be audible from the links here at the Renaissance Club.

Certainly, if Andrea Pavan has any say on the matter, Sunshine on

Leith will be given a rousing rendition inside the clubhouse this evening.

That would be his victory song if he goes on to win the Scottish Open. Well, it sort of has to be now.

The Italian played in the pro-am on Wednesday with none other than Hibs manager Paul Heckingbottom and, as luck would have it, the two struck up an unlikely bond.

Pavan currently sits on 14 under par and, admittedly, he will have his work cut out if he is to overhaul the brilliant Austrian Bernd Wiesberger at the top of the leaderboard.

But after a sizzling 62 yesterday, why not dare to dream?

Among the early morning starters, Pavan holed out from 50 yards at the first for an eagle three and thenm swiftly set about dismantling the golf course.

Two eagles on the front nine in an outward half of 29, a flawless scorecard by the end of it all, and a special thank-you to the Hibs boss for a little pep talk.

‘I actually thought I had missed the cut,’ explained Pavan, who is in rich form after winning the BMW International Open in Munich at the end of last month.

‘I was preparing dinner on Friday night when my caddie texted me, saying: “Get ready, you’re playing tomorrow”.

‘It was a lot of fun to play with Paul in the pro-am. He hit a lot of long drives. To be honest, I don’t think he’s a nine handicap because he had a few birdies!

‘I’m a big football fan. Roma is my team, so it was nice to play with a professional coach.

‘It’s always nice to play with other athletes at professional levels.

‘We had a chat and my caddie got involved as well. He played some professional football in Argentina, but I don’t think Paul is trying to sign him.

‘I hadn’t heard of Hibs before I played with Paul. I think they will maybe be my Scottish team from now on.

‘He asked me if I had any green clothes to wear, but I didn’t. I went to Texas A&M University and our colour was maroon, so that definitely was not the right combination for Paul! But we had good fun.’

Resigned to missing the cut at one point on Friday night, Pavan admits to having an extra spring in his step when he teed up yesterday morning.

He is also relishing his first crack at an Open Championship next week when he makes the journey over to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

‘It’s not an easy thing to change your mindset late on the Friday night, but I had motivation on Saturday morning for sure,’ he added.

‘I knew coming into this week that I was playing pretty well, but it has been of those weeks where not many things went my way in the first two rounds.

‘All of a sudden, I’m right on the cut line and you know that if you make the cut and have a good Saturday, then you can still have a good finish.

‘This is one of the biggest events and leading into The Open it was nice to get a bit of confidence back and make some putts.

‘It’s just fantastic to have this opportunity. I have never played in The Open Championship and I have only played one other major, the US Open, which was a great experience.

‘This year, I’m going to really try to enjoy it. My game is better than it was. I have played a lot of links golf and I have played Portrush before.

‘Hopefully I can have a good week over there.

‘I’m trying to enjoy the situation — but I’m also going to try to do my best and see where that takes me.’