Thomas Levet of France, whose magnificent victory in The Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond also secured his entry into the following week’’s Open Golf Championship at Royal Troon where he subsequently finished tied for fifth, and Vijay Singh of Fiji, who won the US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, have been named as The European Tour Golfers of the Month for July and August respectively.
Levet produced one of the rounds of the year at Loch Lomond, a closing 63 for a 15 under par total of 269, seeing him come from seven shots off the lead at the start of the day to take his third European Tour International Schedule title by a shot from New Zealand’’s Michael Campbell.
After having come so close to winning the Open Golf Championship at Muirfield in 2002, where he was edged out in a play-off by Ernie Els, Levet was faced with the prospect of missing out on this year’’s Championship at Royal Troon before his spectacular effort at Loch Lomond gave him the final exempt spot.
He went on to take full advantage of the opportunity afforded with a fine performance in Ayrshire, rounds of 66-70-71-72 for a five under par total of 279, giving him a share of fifth place. In addition, the prize money amassed during those two weeks provided the platform for Levet to claim one of the automatic places in The European Ryder Cup Team.
Levet was one of several players considered by the judging panel for the July award in yet another month where European Tour Members excelled both at home and abroad.
Leading the contenders was England’’s Mark James. The former European Ryder Cup Captain made history by becoming the first European golfer to win a Senior Major Championship on American soil when rounds of 68-67-67-73 for a 13 under par total of 275 gave him victory in the Ford Senior Players Championship at the TPC of Michigan.
James beat his former Ryder Cup team-mate José Maria Cañizares of Spain by a shot before almost becoming the first European golfer since JH Taylor in 1894-95 to win successive Major Championships, when he finished fourth in the Senior British Open, presented by MasterCard, at Royal Portrush.
Other players considered for the July award included England’’s Luke Donald, for his maiden European Tour victory in the Scandinavian Masters by Carlsberg; June award winner Retief Goosen of South Africa for his victory in the Smurfit European Open on his first outing since winning the US Open Championship at Shinnecock Hills two weeks earlier; Australia’’s Brett Rumford, for his victory in the Nissan Irish Open; and Vijay Singh of Fiji, for his success in the Buick Open, his fourth win of the season on the US PGA Tour.
While Singh narrowly missed out on securing the nomination for July, he was the unanimous choice by the judging panel for August’’s award following his play-off success in the US PGA Championship, beating Americans Chris DiMarco and Justin Leonard over three holes to secure his third Major Championship title. It was Singh’’s second Golfer of the Month Award, having also been selected to receive the accolade in April.
After the trio had tied on eight under par 280, Singh immediately grabbed the initiative in the play-off with a birdie three on the opening hole, the tenth. It was to prove crucial as two further pars, at the 17th and 18th, were good enough for victory as neither DiMarco or Leonard could conjure up any birdies over the three holes.
Other players considered for the August award included Englishmen David Lynn and Gary Emerson who each claimed their maiden victories on The European Tour International Schedule with respective wins in The KLM Open in The Netherlands and the BMW Russian Open; and Spain’’s Miguel Angel Jiménez, who continued a wonderful season with his fourth victory of 2004 in the BMW International Open in Germany.
The award is presented to a European Tour Member each month from January to November for his performance on The European Tour International Schedule and in worldwide competition. Previous winners this year have been Jiménez (January), Els (February), Adam Scott (March), Singh (April), Scott Drummond (May), and Goosen (June). At the end of the year, the panel will select The European Tour Golfer of the Year.
