Thomas Levet wins Open de España

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