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BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 17, 2004

Thomas Levet

ROYAL TROON, SCOTLAND

STEWART McDOUGALL: Ladies and gentlemen, Thomas Levet, 71, for 207, 6-under par. Thomas, at one point you were leading the championship and dropped a few points on the back nine. What were your thoughts after that?

THOMAS LEVET: I'm all right at even par today. I played really, really good from 1 until 10. And even after the drive on 11, I hit a good drive on 11, so that was very, very good golf. And I made a big mistake from 11, I made a putt from no distance. But the back nine was playing very difficult with the wind, and that was going on and off and on and off and it was dry and wet, and the ball was going very different speeds on the greens, so it was not easy. When you know the back nine here, it's a bit disappointing, because the pins were not that tough today. They were kind of center of the greens in the back, not too close from the bunkers. I could have taken one or two birdies on the back nine, which I didn't. But even par is not too bad, I'm still in there for tomorrow.

Q. You said to the BBC afterwards that the bunkers are scary, can you expand on that a bit, please?

THOMAS LEVET: Every time you go in one of these little bunkers, they call one of them "The Coffin, it's because it's so small and the banks -- they don't need to be big, when the bunkers are small like that, because you have no room to put the ball up and carry the slopes. So it's always difficult, you know. Whatever bunker you go in the first thing you try is to get out. And sometimes you can't play the pins, you can't play the green. So sometimes you have to expect to lose shots in them. And everybody has done it, and everybody will do tomorrow again.

Q. Outside someone asked one of the other players, is this competition, this pressure, is this fun? And the guy said absolutely not. But what's your thought? Is this fun?

THOMAS LEVET: I think it is, you know? When you turn pro and you want to compete at the highest level, the fun is when you go in the hunt. And I think it's the top of what you can do as a player, you're on top of your career. If this is no fun, what else would be fun? Playing with your friends? But that could be fun, play with your friends. But you have to give your best, a hundred percent, and that's what I like. And I think -- it's maybe -- fun is maybe not the word. But you have to appreciate these moments, because there's not too many in your career.

Q. You said it came out of the blue, your double bogey, how were you able to get over it and indeed did you get over it?

THOMAS LEVET: Oh, yeah, I did, because even if I double bogeyed that one, I was still in lead of the championship, so it didn't matter much. And I was still in contact with the tournament. It's not like I blew it, just after a bad shot. I just -- I was really annoyed with my first putt, because it was just like a lack of concentration on the first one, it was very quick and I didn't see it. So it's just a little lack of concentration. But it's the first one I do in three days so it's not too bad, you know, record-wise it's okay.

Q. Did you keep an eye on the leaderboard after 11, until the end?

THOMAS LEVET: I looked at the leaderboards all the time, just to see who was doing what. But I'm looking at how the tournament is going on, otherwise it would be boring on the course, just playing your game not knowing what's going on. You want to see what's going on, what's happening. I've seen lots of birdies today. I could hear them and I wanted to see who was doing that, because you want to know how the tournament is going on. But I look at them, but I pay attention to my game first and on every shot I do I try to concentrate on what I do and not on the other guys. But I look at the boards, because that's the way I play golf. And I look at it because I just want to know what's going on, otherwise you could make -- let's say on the last day if you're not used to looking at them, and suddenly you look at one, you could be, oh, my God, I'm in the lead and panic, you explode. I'm used to looking at them. So I'm used to looking at them so I know how to react, if one guy is in the lead or if I'm in the lead and it just doesn't change the way I play golf.

Q. You've had a lot of tournaments, are you starting to get tired?

THOMAS LEVET: I don't know if I look tired, but inside I am and it has to do with the long day we had today as well. We played pretty quick. But it was a tough day, as well, and you have to dig deep and to be in contention for tomorrow, that was my goal at the start of the day, and that goal is achieved so far. And I'm not to have -- I've got five shots less than last week, so it's going to feel easier. But when you see the names on the board it's going to be a lot tougher, actually. I'm here where I wanted to be at the start of the week and I wish I was 25 shots in front. But I'm not. But I've got a chance tomorrow and that's very, very nice and very good feeling.

Q. Are you the sort of person who can totally blot out the finish today and just start afresh tomorrow?

THOMAS LEVET: Oh, yeah, I'm not even disappointed with my finish. When you look at it the bogeys I did, one is just a stupid mistake on 11 and the other one, the 16, is just a wedge. When you see that my 3-iron turned about 25 meters in the air, and my wedge went straight down to that bunker where I was aiming at it, because the wind stopped. It's more bad luck than anything. The wind stopped at that time and that's it. So it just -- not even a bad shot, I was happy with it. And level par is not bad, there are a lot of guys that would like to score that score today.

Q. Can you imagine what winning your first major would be like?

THOMAS LEVET: Oh, yeah, nice, very nice. But you don't want to think over it too much. The worst thing is to try to prepare the speech before you get the Claret Jug in your hands. So tomorrow I'll do my best. I'll play my game. I know how to win tournaments. I know that if you think about winning before you even start it, you've lost it already. So of course I want to win the tournament, of course everybody wants that. But tomorrow I'll go out there and try my best. If I shoot 62 and somebody shoots 61 to beat me by one, it's because it's been the best for the day. But I'll try to shoot as low as I can and it's going to be just -- I would need a good play, a bit of luck and good nerves at the end and it should be all right. But it's still possible that if you play your best ever, somebody can beat you. So it's a game and it's a tough game and sometimes you have to accept that somebody can beat you even if you are the top of what you're doing.

Q. How will the lessons that you learned at Muirfield help you today?

THOMAS LEVET: The first one that I can do it, I can compete at that level, that is the first lesson that I learned from Muirfield. I know that even Ernie was nervous on the putt that he made for victory. So it's not that because the guys that have big names, that they're not going to feel nervous that I feel tomorrow. Everybody is going to have a tough day tomorrow. And it's going to be probably the guy that handles it the best that will win, everybody will be nervous. At the moment I'm probably the underdog in the names of the guys that are here, and maybe the underdog will come through.

End of FastScripts.

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