Frenchman Thomas Levet kept the shocks coming thick and fast on the European tour today when he won a four-man play-off in the Victor Chandler British Masters at Woburn.
After Henrik Stenson's rookie win at the Benson and Hedges International Open and Andrew Oldcorn's triumph last Monday at the Volvo PGA Championship, the 32-year-old Parisian captured the £208,330 first prize with an eight-foot birdie putt at the third extra hole.
Levet, whose only previous success in 255 tour events was at the 1998 Cannes Open when he was not even a member of the circuit, had finished level with England's David Howell and Swedes Robert Karlsson and Mathias Gronberg on the 14 under par total of 274.
Howell and Karlsson, the two who had been clear of the field with a round to go, crashed out with bogeys on the first playoff hole.
Levet could have finished it off there, but missed from five feet. Undeterred, however, he stayed alive with an eight-footer on the nextand then repeated the trick when he and Gronberg went to the 176-yard 17th.
The £208,330 first prize was more than four times Levet's previous biggest cheque and on grabbing the title he went on a hand-smacking run around the gallery reminiscent of the one done by Hale Irwin at the 1991 US Open.
Clearly overjoyed, he afterwards revealed the secret of his success, an Irish coin he had found on the ground.
"I had the luck of the Irish," he said. "The pressure in a play-off is unbelievable, but I've been in seven in my career and I've only ever lost one."
It was the first four-man play-off on the European tour since the 1993 Honda Open in Germany.
Levet, 125/1 at the start of the week and 50/1 when he set off in the last round four behind Howell, climbs from 63rd in the Ryder Cup standings to 13th. -PA