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ALSTOM OPEN DE FRANCE

July 3, 2011

Thomas Levet

PARIS, FRANCE

STEVE TODD: Many congratulations, and some pretty memorable scenes out there. I'm guessing this is probably the wettest press conference you've ever done as well.
THOMAS LEVET: Probably.
STEVE TODD: Take us through the whole day, the emotions and some amazing crowd scenes out there.
THOMAS LEVET: Yeah, I played -- I was playing very well. I knew that I was just waiting for things to happen on the golf course and they happened today, we know from the first hole I birdied and that putt on No. 4 I made and the one on 17 I made.
So it just, you know, it's just how you win golf tournaments basically. You know, fight like crazy, and just wait for your things to happen, and open, and it's two dropped shots, and that's what happened today, because that golf course so, so difficult, it's a joke. Why do they design it so difficult? (Laughter) Don't make it like a hundred yards wide and a par 5, we reach in two, 2-putt, birdie. No, it doesn't happen here. It's always difficult. You know, just it's unbelievable to be able to win that tournament here at home.
STEVE TODD: Your own open, your National Open, how much of a dream was it to win this one day and to finally have done that?
THOMAS LEVET: Just to win that one, I used to play golf La Baule, which is only ten minutes away from here, and it's pretty special. All of my friends were here in the crowd. It's always nice to win in front of your home crowd. It's my second tournament. I won in Cannes before, and now this one. Plus it's quite special this year. We had the bet with Patrice, that he's going to win the nice one, we put one in his house, there is one, actually. And so I can relax a bit more when I go to your place.
And then my mom wasn't here. I was thinking about her a lot because he got sick through Christmastime and got paralysed and could not come to the French Open for the first time in 20-something years and she is probably watching TV, crying, basically, crying, she won't believe it that I won. It's a pleasure.
Plus it's the first time that my kids see me win, as well. They are grown up now and they know what it is, a birdie and all that, and it's a pleasure to show them that I can win and play golf. The problem is now, I have to work two more years, I won a two-year exemption, sorry.
STEVE TODD: You were obviously heavily involved in The Ryder Cup bid and we saw what an amazing course this could be for The Ryder Cup, as well.
THOMAS LEVET: Yeah, that course, you see how loud it was, the spectators. Everything is designed very well for The Ryder Cup. I have some ideas on the course, as well, for the crowd control to be a little easier. Build a bridge, basically, on No. 9, and build a tunnel underneath and a bridge on top so the players go on top of the people. It only two metres down and just build a little thing so the people can cross when you are playing and they don't have to wait that much. Things like that. And you realise, it's a great golf course for it. But it's very difficult. Good luck when you play The Ryder Cup under pressure on that golf course, because this is a challenge.
It's a dream to win the tournament. It was a crazy week. I think France is ready for The Ryder Cup 201.

Q. Crazy scenes in the water and the lake and champagne sprayed all over you, it must be a dream come true after all of these years to win your national title?
THOMAS LEVET: Yes, it is. I played that tournament, I don't know how many times, but now I can play for another ten years or something like that. So it's just absolutely crazy.

Q. Out on the course, as well, it was a kind of Ryder Cup feel to it, wasn't there?
THOMAS LEVET: Yes, it's the same atmosphere, the same souls, the same people are going to be there in 2018 and they will be ready for it.

Q. Were they shouting "captain" at you?
THOMAS LEVET: They were and it was quite crazy actually.

Q. You told me this morning that outside of winning a major this was the exciting thing could you do, describe how it feels.
THOMAS LEVET: Just crazy. Just the way it went today, just like in a dream. I knew I was three behind but on that course, is nothing. Anything can happen on one hole. It looked like the front nine was a lot tougher today with pin placements that are scary like No. 2, and they were tight and I just played my game, you know, tried to hang onto every hole.
Got lucky on some putts, the putt I made on No. 4 is actually pretty crazy and the crucial putt was probably 17. I just -- I know my opponent was like five feet away and he was putting very well and I just had to make that putt to stay in the lead and put a bit of pressure on everyone else, because I knew that 6 was not going to win.
And then I hit two beautiful shots on 18, just thought, you know, keep your routine going, just keep the way you played most of the week, and just hit two good shots and see what happens. And I had the advantage of being, you know, a little shorter off the tee, than Olesen, so you put the pressure by putting the ball close first.
It's just a little bit of, you know, probably experience.

Q. Describe the atmosphere from your point of view. It was incredible, the noise?
THOMAS LEVET: Yes, if you have ever been to a Ryder Cup, that's what it is, so imagine what it is when we have six times more people on the course what it's going to be. What is crazy, is that the people they just go, "Come on, Thomas, allez, allez allez," and some of them go like, "Captain, Captain, Captain," because they are thinking about Ryder Cup are already. I'm just -- I was trying to win the tournament.
Just a lot of emotion, just very, very tiring, and just it was great, the atmosphere today, I felt like the Tour de France has started, I felt like one of the riders climbing some of the mountain in France with the public all around me shouting my name. It was quite crazy from yesterday's first hole to today's last hole, last 36 holes, great atmosphere. You can tell your friends, 2018, France is ready.

Q. You wanted it so much, they wanted it so much, how was the pressure, how did it compare to The Ryder Cup? How did it compare to your previous wins?
THOMAS LEVET: It's very different, because there you had everyone behind me basically, and it's the same as The Ryder Cup. It's the same kind of emotion, same kind of, you know, adrenaline rush. I had to take some clubs off. I was long all the time, straight at the pins but I was hitting distances I never reached before.
It was really difficult to handle but with experience I knew it was going to happen and I knew what to expect. So it was, you know, just amazing win and to do it in Paris here in front of my kids, this is the first time they have seen me win live, it was quite amazing feeling.

Q. This win qualifies you for the HSBC Champions tournament, also for the Bridgestone over in America. Thomas Levet is back in the big time. How does that feel?
THOMAS LEVET: Pretty good. Nice tournaments to play in. I'm not done yet. I have two more years, right to, play on the Tour, so I'm going to beat some records there I think.

Q. You've come very close to winning The Open Championship before, losing in a playoff, that comes up in two weeks' time, in this sort of form, are you worth a platter?
THOMAS LEVET: You never know. I might have some people asking me how I play before the week and try to put some money on it. But that game is so difficult, and today I was in a dream. Maybe tomorrow I might be in a nightmare, you never know. But with the form I have at the moment, I'll only be positive and a win like this just pushes you forward all the time.
It's great to have a successful career like this. I'm so happy to have won this and I'm so happy for the sponsors and the French Federation, because they have done so much for the game and without them there is no professional sport.
So thanks to these guys that beat their money and budget a little bit just for us to have a great tournament.
STEVE TODD: Thank you and congratulations.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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