KITCHENAID SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 26, 2022

Thomas Levet

Press Conference

Harbor Shores

JOHN DEVER: Welcome back to the 2022 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Michigan. We are pleased to be joined by Thomas Levet who opened with a 4-under par 67, tied for the lead.

Bogey on 1 but lights out the last 17 holes.

THOMAS LEVET: Watch out, I started on 10. I put the lights out from the first hole, driver, 3-iron to about 22 feet and made the putt. Then I hit it to four feet and I hit it to ten feet and made both putts. That was an easy start, and then I kind of gave up after that because you don't want to ruin the day. I said to my caddie, shall we go back to the clubhouse.

I played really well the first eight holes and then my game kind of wasn't that precise with irons anymore. I need to, a few holes I hit decent shots but the wrong distances and on those greens, you suffer. My putter was really, really good from long distance. I hit it most of the time inside two feet. Except on the first hole where I probably hit the wrong club on the second shot, but decent shot and stayed -- that bunker is so steep. I never had a shot like this in my life. The ball was two inches from my foot and I couldn't use my left hand because it was here. My left hand was away, so I had to play on one foot like this. It's like, that was kind of interesting. Then back of the green, two-putted, bogey. That's my only bogey of the day so that's not too bad.

11, I hit 9-iron and on 12, I hit a little 8-iron after 3-wood.

Q. After the third hole, what's going through your head?

THOMAS LEVET: I said to my caddie, let's go on. I was playing really solid -- the front nine -- well, the back, my back nine I played really solid, no mistakes, all the fairways, all the greens. You can't go really wrong with that. I know I'm putting really well on those kind of greens. They are really pure and they go well. Good space. It's not too quick, not too slow. You don't have to hit the ball and they are quite easy to read I think because a lot of slopes on them, but yeah it was enjoyable to play like that for day one.

Q. You said you were expecting to contend. What kind of jump-start does this give you to play so well?

THOMAS LEVET: I knew I was playing well and like I told you I with a here to do something. I need to show my name on the leaderboards to get more maybe exemptions on the Champions Tour a little bit. I'd like to do that.

I live in the US, and it's not easy to travel all the time to Europe and play. And I'd like to play here a bit more but I need to show my name. If you don't show your name, you don't get the sponsor exemption.

Q. Does doing television and watching everybody else and how they play, in realizing that they are not as good as you would think they are, does that help you?

THOMAS LEVET: You know. You know. I work for French TV on the course, sometimes in the booth and I commentate. You realize that the winner of the tournament made mistakes, he made mistakes. He's not perfect.

And you look at Pereira last week, he played brilliant for probably 69 holes, then not so good. But when you look, he was in the lead and he made mistake. Like on No. 10 he had a wedge, he put it 20 yards left of the green.

What happened is the guy that is the calmest on the course and reacts to these situations the calmest is the one that's going to win at the end. It tells me a lot on the golf course.

Then I don't think -- I think as well, it's age. When you get older, you get wiser. There are shots that you don't go for anymore. These guys still go at these shots. That's why we keep kind of the same scores at the end because there are shots that we are not able to do anymore. Like you know, 270 over a bunker with a 3-wood. Forget it. I'm going to play right, chip-and-putt. Those guys, they try and sometimes by trying, they have the ability to do it. They put themselves in really tough positions, and you're exactly right by watching, I improve as well.

Q. Did you have anything today that when you looked at it, said, I'm not trying that?

THOMAS LEVET: Of course No. 9, for example. I don't know the course that well. In practice days we had different winds. It was cooler. I don't know if the fairway on the right -- inaudible -- go at the green, that's exactly what I did, I hit 2-iron, 3-iron a hundred yards to the flag, ten feet. Missed the putt. But the end, I did my job.

The guys that tried to hit driver on the right, instead of hitting 3-iron second shot, they hit 5-iron to the same spot. I didn't take any risk and it's exactly what you said. You watch TV, you realize sometimes you don't need to go for everything.

Q. Did you have a look at 9 to take the lead?

THOMAS LEVET: No, I don't look at this.

Q. Did you have a look for birdie?

THOMAS LEVET: I had a 10-footer, something like that. I had a really good shot and my partner didn't make the putt from left-to-right. I hit perfectly on the left side, didn't move at all. It's golf, you know. But I had four good shots on that hole.

Q. How long did it take you to figure out what you were going to do in that one-armed bunker shot?

THOMAS LEVET: A long time. Maybe a minute or so. But you realize in the bunker, the ball is level with my nose, so what am I going to do, I shank? I thought about left-handed but the edge of bunker is right here so if don't hit it correctly, I might go in the bunker and look stupid. I said, okay, you're playing well, just put it on the green, maybe you make the putt, maybe you don't but don't -- if it goes more than two yards, you're putting.

So, okay, I know with right handed, one hand, I'm decently good. I thought I was going to hit closer than that. It's life. You don't have easy shots all the time.

Q. Was it in front of the bunker?

THOMAS LEVET: The pin is here and I'm like basically, like that. My knee in the way, actually. If I bend it too much, it's in the way. So it's like, yeah, it's a really straight one. It's one you don't have too much.

JOHN DEVER: You've got a smile on your face, so ride it into tomorrow. Play well and we'll talk again, sir.

THOMAS LEVET: I hope so.