The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Levy’s high five
Golf action,
France’s Alexander Levy boosted his chances of qualifying for a Ryder Cup debut on home soil by claiming his fifth European Tour title at the Hassan Trophy in Morocco.
Levy carded a final round of 70 at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam to finish eight under par, a shot ahead of overnight leader Alvaro Quiros.
Quiros birdied the 18th to claim outright second, with Italy’s Andrea Pavan, Finland’s Mikko Ilonen and the Swedish pair of Joakim Lagergren and Alexander Bjork a stroke behind on six under.
Levy began the final round a shot off the pace, but moved into the lead with three birdies and a bogey in the first eight holes and recovered from a bogey on the 16th with a vital birdie on the next.
The 27-year-old will have little time to celebrate his win as he heads straight to Beijing to defend his Volvo China Open title but he was thrilled to land his fifth European Tour title.
He said: “This feels so good. I’m a little bit tired now because it was a really tough final round but I played really well.
“I’m so happy to win this trophy.”
The victory provides Levy with the perfect platform to push for a place in Thomas Bjorn’s European team for this year’s Ryder Cup match against the United States at Le Golf National in Paris this September.
He said: “As I have said since the start of the season, I need to improve my game.
“I put in a lot of work over the last few days to win this trophy.
“That has helped me step by step. It is a good win but I need to keep working because we have lot of good players in Europe so it will be tough to make the team.”
Aberdeen’s Richie Ramsay finished highest of the three Scots to make the cut.
The 34-year-old shot a one-under-par 71 to finish tied 32nd on a total of two over par.
Marc Warren’s final round included a quadruple bogey nine at the demanding par-5 12th as he shot a closing 74 to finish five over par.
Drumoig’s Connor Syme also found life difficult, finishing in tied 74th on 16 over after a final round of 81.
“We have a lot of good players so it will be tough to make the team”