Alex Levy wins Trophee Hassan II, plays down Ryder Cup chance

Alex Levy lifted his fifth European Tour trophy at the Trophee Hassan II on Sunday, but remains cautious about his chance to play in the Ryder Cup.

The Frenchman birdied the penultimate hole to finish one shot clear of overnight leader Alvaro Quiros on the final day at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam. 

Levy, who began the day one shot behind, overtook Quiros at the top of the leaderboard with a birdie on the third hole after the Spaniard made an error on the second, and he remained in front for the remainder of the day. 

Two more birdies and a bogey saw him make the turn in 34, and a bounce-back birdie on the 17th after a dropped shot on 16 gave him the advantage heading down the last. The 27-year-old holed his five-footer for par on the final hole, leaving Quiros and Mikko Illonen in need of eagles on the 18th to force a play-off. 

Quiros managed a birdie-birdie finish to secure solo second, while Illonen parred his way in from the 13th to end up in a tie for third with Andrea Pavan, Joakim Lagergren and Alexander Bjork.

“This feels so good,” Levy said after his win. “I’m a little bit tired now because it was really tough today but I did a really good job today. For me, I played an amazing game. I’m so happy to win this trophy.

Watch: The best of Levy’s final round

The victory comes in Levy’s 138th appearance on Tour and provides the perfect momentum as he goes in search of a successful defence and a third title at the Volvo China Open next week.

And unsurprisingly, talk immediately moved to Levy’s chances of playing in the Ryder Cup in Paris later this year. However, the Frenchman was quick to admit he needs to improve his game to have a chance of playing in the European team come September. 

“I said at the start of the season, I need to improve my game,” he added. “I need to work a lot, but I worked a lot the last two days, two weeks, and I won this trophy.

“So that’s helped me but step by step, it’s a good win but I need to go back to work because we can see we have a lot of good players in Europe. So it will be tough to make it.”

Alex Levy: WITB 

Driver: TaylorMade M2 (2017), 8.5˚ (Mitsubishi Tensei CK 60TX)

3-wood: Titleist 915 Fd, 15˚ (Mitsubishi Tensei CK 70TX)

Hybrid: Titleist 816 H1, 17˚

Irons: Titleist 716 CB 3-iron, Titleist 714 MB 4-PW (KBS Tour C-Taper 120S)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM6, 52˚, Titleist Vokey SM7, 58˚

Putter: Odyssey O-Works #7

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x