French golfer Thomas Levet this week celebrates his 500th European Tour event when he tees up in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
Levet, a winner of six Tour titles including his stunning 2011 French Open success, is the 24th player to celebrate 500 tournaments.
It was only last week the Tour welcomed Spain’s Ignacio Garrido as the 23rd while last year Scotland’s Paul Lawrie was the only player in 2012 to break through the magical 500 barrier.
Levet commenced his European Tour season as a then 18-year old in the 1986 French Open but missing the cut with scores of 77 and 79 but it was not to two years later he turned pro.
Thomas Levet welcomed into the European Tour’s ‘500 Club’ after his opening round in the 2013 Omega Dubai Desert Classic. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)
He made his professional debut on the European Tour in the 1989 Volvo Open Championship in Sardina and earning the sum of Euro 1,876.
Since then Levet has gone on to earn more than Euro 7.7m in prizemoney while he was also be a member of the 2004 winning European Ryder Cup side.
“I’m going to go up to 2000, so don’t worry about it, 500 is nothing,” joked Levet.
“My first thought is ‘already’? It goes so quickly.
“It feels like I’m still in my first year on Tour. I have got a bit more experience now but it’s going so quickly. I remember playing here in Dubai when there was nothing at all. From the airport you could see the golf course, and now you have all these towers behind the range and there are towers from here to the airport which is about 25 kilometers.
“That’s something crazy. I’ve seen a lot of cities and countries and the growth of the game, as well, and it’s quite impressive in some parts.”
Recalling the last of his victory haul, at Le Golf National in Paris, Levet said: “It was one of the most pleasant wins I’ve had.
“If you win a big tournament, it’s because your game is big. If you win a small one, it’s because your game is good for the small one, and you have to be proud of every victory you have, because there are not too many of them.
“If you play your best in every tournament, at the end of your career you have no regrets because you gave a hundred per cent. And if you’re lucky to have a few wins, good for you.”
But while Levet joked about playing 2,000 tournaments he still has a long way to go to get near Sam Torrance, who played 706 events, the most in the Tour’s history.
“Of course, as long as I’m healthy and I keep my card on Tour, I’ll be here trying to compete with the young guys,” he said. “Some of them have mothers younger than me, which is sometimes difficult.
“But as soon as I feel that I am not competing enough and I’m not making cuts and I see the game just going away from me, I’ll stop it. That’s it. But as long as I keep my card, as long as I’m competitive – I almost won last year in Scotland and in Australia – I’ll be there.”
