Thomas Levet

Did you feel a lot of pressure in the singles after two close defeats with Miguel Angel Jimenez in the foursomes?

“No, not at all. For me, in team matches the result is far more important than your individual scores. It wouldn’t matter for me if I didn’t score any points for Europe as long as the team won. I was happy to win my singles but I didn’t feel any extra pressure, it didn’t even cross my mind. These matches are so difficult you cannot do anything but take them one by one. When you play in a team, if you are concerned about your personal results you are not playing for the team but for yourself, and that’s not good. It doesn’t matter if you lose five matches out of five as long as the team wins. And if you go around saying ‘Sorry guys’ all day long then the other guys will start to feel sorry for you and that will affect the atmosphere. I’ve played lots of team sports like rugby and hockey so I know it’s not the individual that counts but the team. It’s important to stay positive.”

 

You were very good at a lot of sports as a youngster. Did you ever consider taking one of them up professionally?

“I was probably too young when I was playing good enough tennis to think about turning professional. I could have been a professional at field hockey and that was probably the sport I was best at. I was born with a hockey stick in my hand. I was only one when I started to play so after a hockey stick a golf club felt very light, it felt easy. I could also run any distance you want, I could jump but I didn’t have the time to do everything.”

 

How has life been in the States this year?

“It’s been alright, not great but not too bad either. I’d say it’s been just about okay. My results show that my game hasn’t been very good this year but every time I’ve played well I’ve had decent results. My driving hasn’t been very good and on these types of courses you need to hit the fairways to be aggressive into the green. If you don’t hit the fairways it’s tough all day. When you look at my stats you can see I don’t hit enough fairways and that means I don’t hit enough greens in regulation.”

 

You had a top-15 finish at The Masters and then followed that up the next week with a strong finish at Hilton Head. Did that give you the confidence that you can really compete on the PGA Tour?

“I wasn’t even playing that great in those two weeks but it showed me that I can compete. The problem for me this year has been consistency. I haven’t been able to put four rounds together but every time I’ve played decently I’ve been up there. The Masters and Hilton Head encouraged me that I made the right choice coming here. It showed that if I can play just a fraction better I can do a lot, lot better than I have been doing.”

 

What do you miss most about Europe?

“I miss the changes between countries and cultures. Every week you are with different people speaking different languages whereas here it’s a little bit the same every week. It’s well organised but sometimes you don’t see too many changes in the cities you visit or the type of golf courses you play.”

 

What do you think of British cuisine?