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BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 16, 2004

Thomas Levet

ROYAL TROON, SCOTLAND

STEWART McDOUGALL: Ladies and gentlemen, Thomas Levet, 70 today for a total of 136, 6-under par, and on his own in second place. Thomas, tell your thoughts of being in second place. You were in here yesterday and you are in second place in The Open Championship, how do you feel now?

THOMAS LEVET: Pretty good. When I started this afternoon I wanted to play just a good round and don't think about the lead, don't think about The Open, just try to beat the course and try to just play steady, hit the fairways, the greens, and maybe make some putts. I knew that the pins were set up very difficult, especially on the back nine with the wind left-to-right. And I just didn't want to be -- to lose my concentration or my calmness all day long. It's a difficult course, because they can put up the pins very difficult behind these bunkers, and when it's playing downwind there's no chance to stop that ball. So you have to be patient and putt well from a long distance, and you're going to have tricky putts like 3, 4, 5-footers, because there are some slopes, as well, sometimes.

Q. I know you've been asked this on the television, but did you think you were going to get a two-shot penalty when you were walking along?

THOMAS LEVET: At the start of the round, because what happened is, I don't really remember what I said or what happened, but what happened is that the referee was next to me and one of the guys were moving, how do you call these, the barriers, and what happened is that he's standing next to me, one of the guys are taking them off. And if the ref -- if it was obvious, it was an immovable obstruction. It's a little tiny barrier that you can lift and replace in the next ten seconds. If it was obvious it was an immobile obstruction, I think he would have said something. It was not obvious at all, and they told me on No. 5 only it was a penalty. So it was not an easy case. And what happened is that even I, after -- the barriers were just taken out because it was, I think, dangerous for the spectators. They were not really in play. In case I miss it completely, it would be a pity to -- they're only five yards from that barrier. It was more a question of safety than anything. Because I had the referee standing next to me, I think, it was clear that it was more like his fault than mine, or maybe the marshals should be told not to move them at all.

For me, it was sensible that these barriers were going to be moved, because they were, one by one, there were four or five of them and they were not attached to anything. I don't know, two kilos, you can move them easily and replace them in the next five seconds. I don't know, it was just -- the rules of golf are so strange anyway, that even the referees are mixed up sometimes.

Q. But you know now they shouldn't be moved. If you're against them or close to them, you're not --

THOMAS LEVET: Yeah, they shouldn't be moved. But what happened is that I think the marshal started to move them before I even asked or something like that. I don't really know, you know. When you're on the first hole and you concentrate like that you don't know what's going on. You feel like, yeah, if I hit into the barrier, it could be anywhere, but it could hit somebody, as well, that is close to them. This morning I was in that position and trying to take advantage of it.

Q. Did you fear you would get a two-shot penalty?

THOMAS LEVET: Yeah, but you can get one or two strokes, I don't know what it is. Yes, but when you're in the position of leading the tournament, it doesn't matter. It's only Friday and you can get, you know -- at this time I was, I think, after -- I was two in front. So I was tied for the lead.

It's the same, you know, I just tried to concentrate, try your best on the course, and you see what the referee thinks about that. It's the rules and you have to stick with the rules. If it was a two-shot penalty I would have to accept it. If the referee says no penalty, no penalty. So it's good for me.

Q. Did you have a word with the referee during the incident or after?

THOMAS LEVET: Oh, yeah, we spoke about it and I asked the guys around like Jean Van de Velde and the other guys around the ball, do you remember something? And then they watched it on TV. So, you know, I haven't seen the pictures. I saw them briefly now, ten seconds ago. It's just for me there is not much -- there is not much wrong with that, especially when the barriers are just one by one. They did not attach at all. You can move them so easily. It's a strange thing to call something you can move immovable, you know (laughter).

STEWART McDOUGALL: The director of Rules and Equipment Standards was called in to give a judgment, and he decided to solve the confusion between the marshall and the referee and the player, and there was no intent on the player to move it, and he decided there was no penalty.

Q. The marshall is not allowed to move them?

THOMAS LEVET: Sometimes. I think these guys are on the tee, sometimes on the fairway, and sometimes on the green. So they have very different jobs, and sometimes they can be moved on the leaderboard as well. They don't stay all day like that.

Q. It could have cost you many thousand pounds.

THOMAS LEVET: We don't play for that, we play for the title. I could win the tournament still by ten and it don't matter.

Q. The chip on 12, you had a series of birdie putts?

THOMAS LEVET: It's what happens when you play so good. I was not missing a green from there. I didn't have a chip since yesterday, 10:00 or something, I had some on the chipping green, but I was kind of -- I had a tough chip, anyway, and I knew it was going to stop a lot, but not that chip, of course. If I had, I would have hit harder. I think it's like a feeling. I had no chip from the start. And you're not going to play every shot perfect from the tee to the green -- the first tee to the 18th green. You have to accept you're going to make mistakes, and the mistake is on TV. You look like an idiot when you make mistakes like that. I could have kicked it with my foot. I have to make a good putt for bogey, and that was the most important thing.

Q. You're on the leaderboard with Michael Campbell, Ernie Els, all these guys who've worked with Josh in the past. Is that coincidence?

THOMAS LEVET: He must be good, then. He must be good. I worked with Josh, as well, in the past and he just teaches you some simple things. It's not only the pressure, the shot you're going to do, it's how you accept your mistakes and how you deal with them. And a golf shot is only a golf shot, it's not going to change your life. And you're going to make mistakes, and it's a question of accepting you're going to make a few. And if you are really nervous over a shot, try to play it like you play it in the playground with your kids. You can make a three for the putt with one hand not even looking at the hole. So it means that it's not -- when you miss one, it's most of the time in your mind not in your talent or what you do. And that's what I took from Josh, basically.

Q. Do you still play with French clubs? What does your manufacturer manage with your results?

THOMAS LEVET: Yeah, I play with French clubs. I play with Cinesis golf clubs, and it's the ones I design for the company, and they are the ones I like. I have a contract to play with whatever club I want. They told me to design some golf clubs, and I said okay, let's go for it. I put the clubs I liked in the bag. And it's a very, very closed shape, because I'm the only golfer other than Tiger to have that situation. Being able to say what I like in the clubs or not, and design my own clubs, basically. And it's a nice situation to be in, because I've got everybody behind me. And they sell a lot of golf clubs in France and it's -- how can I say -- I like to have my word on every club they do.

And it's a very, very special relationship for that. If they have a new club that comes out or a problem with the club then they show it to me and I try to test it as much as I can and then say, I like that, I don't like this, I like the sound of it, I like the feel of it, I like the head, the size. I have my word on everything. And they kind of follow what I say and it's enormous. And it's a good part of the job for a pro. And on some of the contracts you can have like with other companies, you're more like -- you adapt to what they offer you, the new drivers, and you try to get the best driver or clubs for you, but you don't have much words with the designers or engineers on what to say about the clubs.

That's what I do with Cinesis, and I'm part of the team for designing, and it's a fun job, it's very nice. And it takes my head a bit out of golf. I put it in the golf club, it's nice, instead of on the course.

Q. Your driver is --

THOMAS LEVET: No, I've got a special contract with the driver, but I had the contract before I signed with Cinesis. And as you say, to find a driver is always difficult. And as I'm playing well with that driver, I feel very comfortable with it and even if I changed it 8 weeks ago I changed to the new R7 Taylor Made and I felt immediately very, very confident with it so I stick with it. Otherwise I would still be driving with the driver I had three years ago.

Q. What were you like before you met Josh? How did you mental attitude hold you back?

THOMAS LEVET: A little bit, not on the good days, but on the bad days. I was like, I said to you before, I bit like Ivanisevic, good Thomas, bad Thomas, and sometimes normal. When I was good, I was finishing first; and when bad, I was home on Saturday night. And there is a lot with the family, as well. I have my family here with me. They're right here. My little Gregoire. And my daughter Juliette is not here. But when I'm out on the course I can relax a lot quicker than before.

Basically, of course, I work with Josh and I won immediately after I started working with him. But it's not only that it's just I think you grow up in life and when you have a family, like I have, I'm lucky everybody is healthy and is working well at school and I have no problems with them. But it's as well what you have behind the scenes that are working okay when you play well. It's the family, you have no problems anywhere.

Q. What was the worst example of bad Thomas?

THOMAS LEVET: You don't remember the funniest thing that Trevor Immelman ever saw on a golf course? There was a guy that hit a wedge to 10 feet, missed the first one, missed the second one, missed the third one, all with a good routine and just paying attention on everything, missed the fourth one. At the fourth one he hit it 120 yards down the slope and went back and hit the wedge, made the putt for ten, that was me.

Because when I'm patient, I'm very patient, but when I go over the top, I can be very -- I call it smoking. I lose it. I lose it after a long, long time. But when I lose it, don't be in front of me, I can destroy anyone, especially in a restaurant. You know when you wait for butter for two hours and the guy says I'm coming, I'm coming, the fifth time I say, are you coming or do I follow you in the kitchen to get the butter?

But on these days when I did that, I was about to lose -- I was about to make the cut, if I was making pars all the way, and when you make 7 on a hole after 5 putting from ten foot, you know, basically you have no chance because there is only one hole left, and you forget the week, you just blow up the week in just one green. Thanks.

Q. You said it's quite nice doing other things off the golf course. You're learning Japanese, and obviously speak other languages. Do you like doing other things like studying?

THOMAS LEVET: At the moment I'm trying to learn Japanese. It's very difficult. On my time off in the airplanes, I just open Japanese and French books, trying to understand this language. It's not easy. But I'll be there. I'll be there maybe -- it took me about a year to learn Spanish, so it's going to take me five years to learn Japanese, probably. I'll be there. I pick up words. And probably -- I don't have any practice on it.

Otherwise, I garden quite a bit, I play with my kids, I try to relax a little bit. They are playing tennis at the moment, so I go see them play tennis. And in the wintertime I go mostly to the gym and practice when they're at school. I try to live the normal life of anybody, everybody. It's not because you're on the golf course under pressure that you just have to think about practice, practice, practice, my fitness. My little finger is sore. I won't drive the car today because my finger is sore. I try to, just once I'm out of the course, I switch off, and that's it. I feel a lot better to recover from good or bad tournaments.

Q. What languages do you speak?

THOMAS LEVET: I speak -- English, German, I speak German and English the same. French, I try to speak, but sometimes I swear too much. I speak a little bit of Italian, because French and Spanish are very close for me. I know a lot of words in Swedish, but my speaking is not as good. I understand what they say, they have to be careful. Then I'm learning Japanese at the moment. And it's a tough language, but there are so many Japanese guys at the moment that I find it interesting, actually.

Q. Until late on Sunday afternoon, you weren't even in this tournament. Tell us about what these last five days have been?

THOMAS LEVET: I had the chance in Loch Lomond to be up there. I watched the leaderboard and had my friend Gregory was in lead and tied with Marcus Fraser, Greg had a tough time, and it was going to be a tough time for him being there, after what happened in Germany, it was going to be tense all day long, that was sure. In his position I would have been. Marcus never won on the Tour, so he would have been tense, as well. Behind them there was Michael Campbell that was one behind, but he had some bogeys on the back nine that helped me come back. And I had an incredible day, the days where you hit the pins, you hit it at every pin, every fairway and make some good putts as well. So it was like a dream day. The one you just think about as a pro and you hope that you can come back from once in your career. I did it before and I knew it was possible. But on that tournament, on the European Tour and against such a strong field, it made me feel very comfortable, very, very positive for this week. It makes me relax, as well, a lot more on the course, because you have this behind you. A lot of things are opening up with that win, as well. So the last few days have been very, very easy to lead. You just play your game, play good and you've got a lot of rewards from it, that's a nice life, isn't it.

Q. Were there any Scottish words you've picked up?

THOMAS LEVET: Yeah, I know from Aberdeen "fit like man," it's "how are you doing."

Q. With your result this year, you could regain your PGA TOUR card, would you get there again?

THOMAS LEVET: You know, sometimes you have to make some choices in life, and last year I had a tough year on the PGA TOUR, I didn't know any courses, and it's probably one of my regrets in my career not to stay in America more often and play a little bit more over there. If I have the opportunity to play there a lot more and be exempt, like I am in Europe, I would go, that's for sure, but it's not only my decision. At the moment we are lucky, we have a very good school for the children, a very nice home. It's not only my decision, it's the family's decision. If they're happy to move over there, I'll go. If not, I'll probably play a few and try to get my card like that. But if I'm in the world events and in the majors, that will be a lot easier.

The problem with my position last year was very difficult, not being exempt to any major or any World Championships, I had to play a lot of tournaments to keep my card in Europe and in America. So when you combine a tournament like this one, plays on both Tours, that's much easier than if you have to play like I did last year. I think I played 38 tournaments or something there, because I had to play a minimum of tournaments in Europe, even though I had my card after three tournaments, I had to have them at least to start the next eight. It was more like a week of practice then a week of tournament. And I was trying out some things on the course, because that was the only way I could do it, otherwise I wouldn't be able -- it's not possible to play good in 38 weeks. Some weeks I could choose is that the week you practice or is that the week you play tournament. I missed my card by a stroke in the last tournament. I needed to finish fifth and I finished 6th. That was disappointing. That was a nice experience and I wish I'd do it again.

End of FastScripts.

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