Thomas Levet

Thomas Levet
Personal information
Full nameThomas Jean Roger Levet
Born (1968-09-05) 5 September 1968 (age 56)
Paris, France
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Sporting nationality France
ResidencePalm Beach Gardens, Florida, U.S.
Spouse
Caroline
​
(m. 1998)​
Children3
Career
Turned professional1988
Current tour(s)European Senior Tour
Former tour(s)European Tour
PGA Tour
Professional wins15
Highest ranking41 (2 January 2005)[1]
Number of wins by tour
European Tour6
European Senior Tour3
Other6
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT13: 2005
PGA ChampionshipT51: 2009
U.S. OpenT18: 2002
The Open ChampionshipT2: 2002

Thomas Jean Roger Levet (born 5 September 1968) is a French professional golfer who is a member of the European Tour and former member of the PGA Tour.

Career

Levet was born in Paris, France. He turned professional in 1988 and won the French PGA Championship that year. He first qualified for the European Tour for the 1991 season and spent the next six years on the tour, splitting time with the PGA Tour in 1994. He made only three cuts on the European Tour in 1996 and fell to the second-tier Challenge Tour. He regained his European Tour card in April 1998 by winning the Cannes Open, to which he had gained access through the French Golf Federation.

In 2002, he finished second at The Open Championship at Muirfield, being one of four players in a playoff. He had a good chance to win, but bogeyed the final hole of the four-hole playoff to fall into sudden death with Ernie Els, where he again bogeyed to lose to Els.

After spending 2003 on the PGA Tour, he returned to the European Tour in 2004. He claimed the most prestigious title of his career at the Scottish Open, and was a member of the winning 2004 European Ryder Cup Team. Levet ended the season 5th on the Order of Merit, and returned to the PGA Tour in 2005.

Levet suffers from severe vertigo, which almost forced him out of the game,[2] however he has made strides to overcome the condition, and has featured in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings.

In 2008 he won his fourth European Tour title, beating nineteen-year-old Oliver Fisher in a sudden death playoff in the MAPFRE Open de Andalucia.

His fifth win on the European Tour came at the 2009 Open de España where he held off a charging Fabrizio Zanotti, who shot a final round 65, by two strokes finishing 18 under par.[3] With this win Levet became the leading Frenchman in terms of European Tour wins.

Levet won his sixth European Tour title in July 2011 when he triumphed in his native country, at the Alstom Open de France by one stroke from Englishman Mark Foster and Dane Thorbjørn Olesen.[4] He became the 7th French player to win the tournament after Jean-François Remésy. While celebrating his victory, Levet jumped into a lake, breaking his shin, and causing him to withdraw from The Open Championship.[5]

Professional wins (15)

European Tour wins (6)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner(s)-up
1 19 Apr 1998 Cannes Open −6 (69-71-65-73=278) 1 stroke Wales Phillip Price, Germany Sven Strüver,
New Zealand Greg Turner
2 3 Jun 2001 Victor Chandler British Masters −14 (69-69-67-69=274) Playoff Sweden Mathias Grönberg, England David Howell,
Sweden Robert Karlsson
3 11 Jul 2004 Barclays Scottish Open −15 (70-67-69-63=269) 1 stroke New Zealand Michael Campbell
4 30 Mar 2008 MAPFRE Open de Andalucía −16 (69-68-68-67=272) Playoff England Oliver Fisher
5 3 May 2009 Open de España −18 (64-67-71-68=270) 2 strokes Paraguay Fabrizio Zanotti
6 3 Jul 2011 Alstom Open de France −7 (70-70-67-70=277) 1 stroke England Mark Foster, Denmark Thorbjørn Olesen

European Tour playoff record (2–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2001 Victor Chandler British Masters Sweden Mathias Grönberg, England David Howell,
Sweden Robert Karlsson 		Won with birdie on third extra hole
Howell and Karlsson eliminated by par on first hole
2 2002 The Open Championship Australia Stuart Appleby, Australia Steve Elkington,
South Africa Ernie Els 		Els won with par on first extra hole after four-hole aggregate playoff;
Els: E (4-3-5-4=16),
Levet: E (4-2-5-5=16),
Appleby: +1 (4-3-5-5=17),
Elkington: +1 (5-3-4-5=17)
3 2004 Telecom Italia Open Northern Ireland Graeme McDowell Lost to par on fourth extra hole
4 2008 MAPFRE Open de Andalucía England Oliver Fisher Won with par on first extra hole

Other wins (6)

  • 1988 French PGA Championship
  • 1990 National Omnium (France)
  • 1991 French PGA Championship
  • 1992 Championnat de France Pro
  • 1997 Toulouse Open, New Caledonia French Masters

European Senior Tour wins (3)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 6 Oct 2019 Farmfoods European Senior Masters −10 (69-69-68=206) 1 stroke Austria Markus Brier
2 4 Sep 2021 Legends Open de France −13 (67-65-68=200) 3 strokes Canada David Morland IV
3 12 Sep 2021 Scottish Senior Open −9 (70-69-65=204) Playoff Austria Markus Brier

European Senior Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2021 Scottish Senior Open Austria Markus Brier Won with par on first extra hole

Playoff record

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2002 The Open Championship Australia Stuart Appleby, Australia Steve Elkington,
South Africa Ernie Els 		Els won with par on first extra hole after four-hole aggregate playoff;
Els: E (4-3-5-4=16),
Levet: E (4-2-5-5=16),
Appleby: +1 (4-3-5-5=17),
Elkington: +1 (5-3-4-5=17)

Results in major championships

Tournament 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Masters Tournament CUT T13 CUT
U.S. Open T18 CUT T52 CUT T45 CUT
The Open Championship CUT T49 T66 T2 T22 T5 T34 T38 CUT
PGA Championship 71 CUT CUT T51
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 1
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 3
The Open Championship 0 1 0 2 2 3 9 7
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2
Totals 0 1 0 2 2 5 22 13
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 5 (1999 Open Championship – 2002 PGA)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice)

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament 2003
The Players Championship CUT

CUT = missed the halfway cut

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Match Play R64
Championship T28
Invitational T32 T46 T54
Champions T57
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References

  1. ^ "Week 1 2005 Ending 2 Jan 2005" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Quotes of the Week". BBC Sport. 30 May 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  3. ^ "Levet victorious at Spanish Open". BBC Sport. 3 May 2009. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
  4. ^ "Levet wins home tournament". European Tour. 3 July 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  5. ^ "Thomas Levet to miss Open after fracturing his shin jumping into lake". The Guardian. London. Press Association. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  6. ^ "European Boys' Team Championship – European Golf Association". Retrieved 22 January 2023.