The 29-year-old carded a closing 73 for 278 to finish a shot ahead of Welshman Philip Price, Greg Turner of New Zealand and Germany’s Sven Strüver, becoming the first Frenchman to win a major event on home soil since Jean Garaialde took the French Open in 1969.
On that day, Levet was less than a year old, but his predecessor couldn’t have gone through a more nerve-recking final day before securing a first European Tour title.
Levet had begun the day four strokes clear on eight under par but what appeared to be just a stroll in the sun turned into something of a nightmare. His lead was reduced to one, extended again, then cancelled completely when Levet bogeyed the par two 12th. It left him on five under and tied with Price and Turner.
But to Levet’s credit, he never fell behind and with the wind getting up in the afternoon as it had on every day of the tournament, making the Royal Mougins course even more treacherous, he had to stay calm and patient.
Price finished with a solid 67 of 279, five under, and waited to see if he would be caught. Turner did so but only after three-putting the par-five 18th for par from around 70 feet, his six-foot birdie putt clipping the hole.
At that stage Levet edged ahead again with a birdie at the long 15th and when he drained a 35-footer for two at the short 17th to go two ahead he seemed home and dry. He could afford to bogey the last and still win, but it wasn’t as simple as that.
The Frenchman was in a fairway bunker in two and to his horror he skied his recovery back into the same trap. "The ball went straight up in the air and I didn’t know where it had gone," he said. "It could have landed on my head or in my pocket or wherever." However, he found the green in four and had an almost identical putt to that of Turner.
Like his rival he left his ball some weight feet away but coolly rolled it in for a bogey-six and a thrilling victory. "It was so difficult out there," said Levet. "After I bogeyed the first, then birdied the fourth I told myself to just make pars because everyone was struggling with the course. I stayed calm, sometimes too calm, but I kept my nerve. I knew with the first putt at 18 that you couldn’t stop the ball next to the hole. I wanted to leave it reasonably safe and the next putt was almost identical to the one I had in the first round.
"I am the surprise of the year, I think. It’s incredible." It certainly was because it ended a long disappointing spell for Levet, a Category-14 member, who only got into the tournament through the French Federation. Now he is exempt for two years and with £50,000 in his pocket, life is looking up for the man from Paris.
