Spanish Open winner Levet dedicates
his win to Seve Ballesteros
FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
France's Thomas Levet won the the Spanish Open in Girona today - and dedicated his victory to Seve Ballesteros.
Levet, overtaken early in the final round, came back to shoot a 68 for a two-stroke victory over Paraguay's Fabrizio Zanotti, with Ireland's defending champion Peter Lawrie and Dane Thomas Bjorn joint third.
Levet dedicated victory to Seve Ballesteros after lifting the Spanish Open trophy.
Ballesteros underwent four operations late last year after the discovery of a brain tumour and is still having chemotherapy.
"I always think about Seve. He is having a hard time at the moment," said 40-year-old Levet, who took the first prize of just under £300,000 with a closing 68 and 18-under-par total of 270.
Then, looking into a television camera, he added: "Seve, I dedicate this win to you."
Asked what he most admired about the former world No 1, whose record 50 victories on the circuit included three Spanish Opens, Levet replied: "His fight, and that's what I did today."
He needed to. Two ahead overnight, he found himself two behind after four holes with playing partner Stuart Davis bursting out of the traps - appropriately enough for a man sponsored by the Nottingham greyhound track - with three successive birdies.
Davis, a Tour rookie despite being 35, fell away to 15th place with a 78, but Zanotti, Peter Lawrie and Bjorn then came on strongly.
Zanotti, a 25-year-old South American, had never previously posted a top-10 finish on the circuit, but he had nine birdies in a best-of-the-day 65. It was not enough, though. From one in front with four to play Levet sank an eight-foot putt at the long 15th and then birdied the 460-yard 17th as well.
COLIN FARQUHARSON'S SCOTSWATCH:
Steven O'Hara finished as the top Scot in joint 31st position (the same as John Daly). O'Hara, after three steady rounds of 72, 72 and 73, got into a higher gear for a final-round 68 and a total of 285 which earned him Euros 14,709.
Gary Orr scored 68, 72, 74 and 72 to finish joint 42nd on 286 and a payslip for Euros 11,800.
Give Paul Lawrie his due for really getting the head down in the final round, obviously to finish as high as he could after a disastrous third-round 80. The Aberdonian, who had started the tournament with a 68, had a Sunday best of 67 for a shared of 45th place on 287 and a take-home pay of Euros 10,600.
Steven Gallacher came in joint 60th with scores of 71, 70, 78 and 72 for 291 and a cheque for Euros 5,400.
Rookie Callum Macaulay will be disappointed to finish "only" joint 68th after starting the Spanish Open with a 65. Three successive rounds of 76 gave him a total of 293 and a pay-out of Euros 4,100. Better that than nothing at all for the Kincardine man.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
270 T Levet (Fra) 64 67 71 68 (Euros 333,330).
272 2 F Zanotti (Par) 71 70 66 65 (Euros 222,220).
274 T Bjorn (Den) 70 67 71 66, Peter Lawrie (Ire) 68 66 71 69 (Euros 112,600 each).
278 C Schwartzel (SAf) 67 73 69 69 (Euros 84,800).
279 R Cabrera-Bello (Spa) 70 67 74 68, M Siem (Ger) 67 70 72 70 (Euros 65,000 each).
280 G Bourdy (Fra) 71 71 72 66, D Horsey (Eng) 72 70 72 66, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 65 73 71 71 (Euros 44,933 each).
281 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 69 70 70 72, Stephen Dodd 69 69 69 74, Soren Hansen (Den) 63 70 76 72, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 66 75 69 71
282 Stuart Davis 72 65 67 78, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 70 73 72 67
283 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 73 71 70 69, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 72 70 74 67, Matthew Millar (Aus) 69 75 71 68, David Lynn 69 73 70 71, Paul Broadhurst 70 69 70 74, Ross McGowan 71 71 73 68, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 72 68 76 67
284 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 69 72 74 69, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 70 74 68 72, Chris Wood 66 70 79 69, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 75 69 65 75, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 67 69 74 74, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (Spa) 74 69 72 69, Mark Foster 69 72 70 73
285 Steve Webster 74 68 72 71, Estanislao Goya (Arg) 75 69 67 74, Steven O'Hara 72 72 73 68, John Daly (USA) 70 72 74 69, Robert Rock 73 70 71 71, Marcus Higley 71 69 73 72, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 69 74 68 74, Raul Quiros (Spa) 68 75 70 72, Santiago Luna (Spa) 69 71 73 72, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 68 71 73 73, Paul McGinley 70 67 73 75 (Euros 14,709) (jt 31st)
286 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 68 75 75 68, Gary Orr 68 72 74 72, Sion Bebb 69 71 73 73 (Euros 11,800 each) 9(jt 42nd).
287 Pedro Linhart (Spa) 71 69 72 75, Paul Lawrie 68 72 80 67, Pablo Martin (Spa) 68 72 71 76
288 Juan francisco Sarasti (Spa) 73 69 68 78, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 71 71 77 69, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 72 69 73 74, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 71 71 76 70 (Euros 10,000 each) (jt 45th).
289 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 72 67 78 72, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 71 69 74 75, Jordi Garcia pinto (Spa) 73 71 68 77, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 73 71 71 74, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 69 74 72 74
290 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 68 74 70 78, James Kamte (Rsa) 73 71 72 74, Miles Tunnicliff 72 70 74 74
291 Iain Pyman 68 76 69 78, Jan Are Larsen (Nor) 67 76 73 75, Stephen Gallacher 71 70 78 72, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 71 70 74 76, Graeme Storm 69 71 77 74 (Euros 5,400) (jt 60th).
292 Gary Murphy 70 74 77 71, Bradley Dredge 72 71 73 76, Manuel Quiros (Spa) 69 74 80 69
293 Callum Macaulay 65 76 76 76, Phillip Price 73 71 72 77 (Euros 4,100) (jt 68th).
294 Ake Nilsson (Rsa) 70 73 73 78, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 72 72 78 72
his win to Seve Ballesteros
FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
France's Thomas Levet won the the Spanish Open in Girona today - and dedicated his victory to Seve Ballesteros.
Levet, overtaken early in the final round, came back to shoot a 68 for a two-stroke victory over Paraguay's Fabrizio Zanotti, with Ireland's defending champion Peter Lawrie and Dane Thomas Bjorn joint third.
Levet dedicated victory to Seve Ballesteros after lifting the Spanish Open trophy.
Ballesteros underwent four operations late last year after the discovery of a brain tumour and is still having chemotherapy.
"I always think about Seve. He is having a hard time at the moment," said 40-year-old Levet, who took the first prize of just under £300,000 with a closing 68 and 18-under-par total of 270.
Then, looking into a television camera, he added: "Seve, I dedicate this win to you."
Asked what he most admired about the former world No 1, whose record 50 victories on the circuit included three Spanish Opens, Levet replied: "His fight, and that's what I did today."
He needed to. Two ahead overnight, he found himself two behind after four holes with playing partner Stuart Davis bursting out of the traps - appropriately enough for a man sponsored by the Nottingham greyhound track - with three successive birdies.
Davis, a Tour rookie despite being 35, fell away to 15th place with a 78, but Zanotti, Peter Lawrie and Bjorn then came on strongly.
Zanotti, a 25-year-old South American, had never previously posted a top-10 finish on the circuit, but he had nine birdies in a best-of-the-day 65. It was not enough, though. From one in front with four to play Levet sank an eight-foot putt at the long 15th and then birdied the 460-yard 17th as well.
COLIN FARQUHARSON'S SCOTSWATCH:
Steven O'Hara finished as the top Scot in joint 31st position (the same as John Daly). O'Hara, after three steady rounds of 72, 72 and 73, got into a higher gear for a final-round 68 and a total of 285 which earned him Euros 14,709.
Gary Orr scored 68, 72, 74 and 72 to finish joint 42nd on 286 and a payslip for Euros 11,800.
Give Paul Lawrie his due for really getting the head down in the final round, obviously to finish as high as he could after a disastrous third-round 80. The Aberdonian, who had started the tournament with a 68, had a Sunday best of 67 for a shared of 45th place on 287 and a take-home pay of Euros 10,600.
Steven Gallacher came in joint 60th with scores of 71, 70, 78 and 72 for 291 and a cheque for Euros 5,400.
Rookie Callum Macaulay will be disappointed to finish "only" joint 68th after starting the Spanish Open with a 65. Three successive rounds of 76 gave him a total of 293 and a pay-out of Euros 4,100. Better that than nothing at all for the Kincardine man.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
270 T Levet (Fra) 64 67 71 68 (Euros 333,330).
272 2 F Zanotti (Par) 71 70 66 65 (Euros 222,220).
274 T Bjorn (Den) 70 67 71 66, Peter Lawrie (Ire) 68 66 71 69 (Euros 112,600 each).
278 C Schwartzel (SAf) 67 73 69 69 (Euros 84,800).
279 R Cabrera-Bello (Spa) 70 67 74 68, M Siem (Ger) 67 70 72 70 (Euros 65,000 each).
280 G Bourdy (Fra) 71 71 72 66, D Horsey (Eng) 72 70 72 66, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 65 73 71 71 (Euros 44,933 each).
281 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 69 70 70 72, Stephen Dodd 69 69 69 74, Soren Hansen (Den) 63 70 76 72, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 66 75 69 71
282 Stuart Davis 72 65 67 78, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 70 73 72 67
283 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 73 71 70 69, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 72 70 74 67, Matthew Millar (Aus) 69 75 71 68, David Lynn 69 73 70 71, Paul Broadhurst 70 69 70 74, Ross McGowan 71 71 73 68, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 72 68 76 67
284 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 69 72 74 69, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 70 74 68 72, Chris Wood 66 70 79 69, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 75 69 65 75, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 67 69 74 74, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (Spa) 74 69 72 69, Mark Foster 69 72 70 73
285 Steve Webster 74 68 72 71, Estanislao Goya (Arg) 75 69 67 74, Steven O'Hara 72 72 73 68, John Daly (USA) 70 72 74 69, Robert Rock 73 70 71 71, Marcus Higley 71 69 73 72, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 69 74 68 74, Raul Quiros (Spa) 68 75 70 72, Santiago Luna (Spa) 69 71 73 72, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 68 71 73 73, Paul McGinley 70 67 73 75 (Euros 14,709) (jt 31st)
286 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 68 75 75 68, Gary Orr 68 72 74 72, Sion Bebb 69 71 73 73 (Euros 11,800 each) 9(jt 42nd).
287 Pedro Linhart (Spa) 71 69 72 75, Paul Lawrie 68 72 80 67, Pablo Martin (Spa) 68 72 71 76
288 Juan francisco Sarasti (Spa) 73 69 68 78, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 71 71 77 69, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 72 69 73 74, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 71 71 76 70 (Euros 10,000 each) (jt 45th).
289 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 72 67 78 72, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 71 69 74 75, Jordi Garcia pinto (Spa) 73 71 68 77, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 73 71 71 74, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 69 74 72 74
290 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 68 74 70 78, James Kamte (Rsa) 73 71 72 74, Miles Tunnicliff 72 70 74 74
291 Iain Pyman 68 76 69 78, Jan Are Larsen (Nor) 67 76 73 75, Stephen Gallacher 71 70 78 72, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 71 70 74 76, Graeme Storm 69 71 77 74 (Euros 5,400) (jt 60th).
292 Gary Murphy 70 74 77 71, Bradley Dredge 72 71 73 76, Manuel Quiros (Spa) 69 74 80 69
293 Callum Macaulay 65 76 76 76, Phillip Price 73 71 72 77 (Euros 4,100) (jt 68th).
294 Ake Nilsson (Rsa) 70 73 73 78, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 72 72 78 72
Labels: EUROPEAN TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Sunday, May 03, 2009
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