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Thomas Levet wins Open de España

Sunday, 3 May 2009
Fergus Bisset
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Thomas Levet

Thomas Levet of France carded a final round of 68 to hold off Fabrizio Zanotti and a charging Thomas Björn to win the Open de España at PGA Golf Catalunya in Girona.

The 40-year-old carried a two-shot advantage over England’s Stuart Davis into the final round but stumbled with two bogeys in the first four holes. But, the Frenchman rallied and three birdies in a row from the sixth hole saw him regain the advantage at the top of the leaderboard.

As Davis faltered, Björn gained ground with a back-nine charge that included four birdies and an eagle. But the Dane came up just shy and, when Levet birdied the 17th, he gave himself a comfortable advantage down the closing hole. He made a regulation par and picked up his fifth European Tour title plus a cheque for €333,330.

The Frenchman dedicated his victory to Seve Ballesteros who is still undergoing chemotherapy for a brain tumour. “I always think about Seve, he is having a hard time at the moment,” he said. “Seve, I dedicate this win to you.”

Zanotti of Paraguay ended the week as Levet’s closest challenger. He signed for a superb last round of 65 that saw him finish alone in second place. “I played well under pressure, because I had never been in this position before.” He said.

Defending champion Peter Lawrie made a great effort to retain his title, finishing tied with Björn on -14 four shots back from Levet.

Rafael Cabrera-Bello was the best placed of the home players. He finished in a tie for sixth.

Open de España
PGA Golf Catalunya, Girona, Spain
Apr 30 – May 3, purse €2,000,000, par 72

1   Thomas Levet (Fra)   64   67   71   68   270   €333,330
2   Fabrizio Zanotti (Par)   71   70   66   65   272   €222,220
T3   Thomas Björn (Den)   70   67   71   66   274   €112,600
T3   Peter Lawrie (Ire)       68   66   71   69   274   €112,600
5   Charl Schwartzel (RSA)   67   73   69   69   278   €84,800
T6   Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 70 67   74   68   279   €65,000
T6   Marcel Siem (Ger)   67   70   72   70   279   €65,000
T8   Grégory Bourdy (Fra)   71   71   72   66   280   €44,933
T8   David Horsey (Eng)   72   70   72   66   280   €44,933
T8   José Manuel Lara (Esp)   65   73   71   71   280   €44,933

Note: Players in bold signifies Titleist ball usage only