Seven thousand four hundred miles – give or take.

That’s how far it is from Paul Barjon’s home country of New Caledonia to his new home in Dallas, Texas.

Golf is the most global of games, and Barjon knows that better than anyone. Quite literally, the journey has been a long one for the 27-year-old.

The Texas Christian University alum first left Dumbéa, New Caledonia as a 16-year-old to go to France for high school before heading to the United States for college. Since then, he’s been back-and-forth on the Korn Ferry Tour and Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada before winning 2019 Player of the Year honors on the Canadian circuit thanks to two victories.

Barjon was born in France and then moved to New Caledonia at age 2. He stayed until he was 16 and then returned to France for high school. He also played on France’s national golf team as a teen and played soccer and rugby – although he stopped playing rugby fairly quickly as he “got beat up pretty bad,” he jokes now.

There are three golf courses on New Caledonia: a public, a private, and a semi-private track. Barjon says he grew up playing the public course, Garden Golf de Dumbéa (a tropical, parkland layout with views of the New Caledonia mountains). His friend Julien Brun went to TCU before Barjon, inspiring him to become a Horned Frog.

“But it was tough to judge how good you are when you play on a small island,” said Barjon. “Even when we were in France and playing good golf, you were wondering how good the guys in the U.S. were.

“You don’t know how good they are until you get to college and you see how good you have to be to turn pro.”

As it turned out, Barjon was pretty good.

He played one- or two-day events in New Caledonia and France, and during the holiday season he would travel to Australia to play. He has a laundry list of accomplishments as an amateur and junior, including making the Round of 16 at The Amateur the summer prior enrolling at TCU (he was eliminated by the eventual champion).

Barjon also finished third with Brun, his friend from France, at the World Amateur Championship in 2012 – the same year he started at TCU.

Barjon said the flight to France takes about 20 hours from New Caledonia (it’s 10 hours to Asia and another 10 to Europe), and he has made the trip about 20 times. Growing up, he was inspired by Adam Scott, Tiger Woods and Seve Ballesteros – “Each continent, I had a big inspiration” – and his first trip to America came in 2010 when he played the Doral Junior Championship in Miami.

He started taking English classes in middle school in New Caledonia, but until he arrived in the U.S. for college, his English was very basic. Speaking and listening were both challenges for him, he said.

But there was no culture shock, despite the fact that the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area that he now calls home is approximately 2,000 square miles larger than the whole country of New Caledonia.

“I don’t think you can compare America to any other country. Everything is bigger,” said Barjon. “The culture is different, but I’ve been able to adapt to different cultures throughout my life. It was just … different.”

The Korn Ferry Tour’s early-season international swing presents a unique set of challenges, and Barjon opened the year with back-to-back missed cuts.

Before the COVID-19 hiatus, though, he rounded into form with finishes of T27-T20-T2 – losing in a playoff at the El Bosque Mexico Championship by INNOVA. He sits 12th on the Regular Season Points List.

“I was pretty satisfied with how I played,” he said. “I was building on some good stuff. I’m glad I went to Mexico and played good there and positioned myself well for no matter what happens.”

When the season begins again, Barjon will resume the position as one of the most well-traveled in professional golf.

And he’s hoping the next destination is the PGA TOUR.