Levy Wins Rain-Shortened Portugal Masters


Though Alexander Levy only had to play four shots over the weekend, he still managed to get an official win in the Portugal Masters.

The final two rounds of the European Tour event were wiped out because of lightning and heavy rainfall at Oceånico Victoria Golf Club in Vilamoura, so the 24-year-old Frenchman was declared the winner after competing only 36 holes.

Levy, who was born in Orange, Calif., finished the first two rounds in a whopping 18-under 124, three strokes ahead of Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts. In posting rounds of 61 and 63 Levy carded 18 birdies and no bogeys.

The rains left the course unplayable after the final group teed off on Sunday, so the tournament was halted. "The forecast for the final round was fine, but after two unexpected very heavy downpours on a course already saturated, it would have taken several hours to make it playable again," said tournament director José Maria Zamora.

"Over the course of the week we had 75 millimeters of rain, and 12 millimeters (Sunday) afternoon, and unfortunately we had to curtail the tournament after 36 holes despite the tireless work of the green-keeping staff."

The victory was Levy's second of the year; he'd earlier notched his first career title in April at the Volvo China Open.

"It feels very special," Levy told the European Tour's website. "If at the start of the year you had said I would win two tournaments I would say 'never!' to you. It's a very nice feeling and I'm very happy. I work hard on this game and I think I played a good game this week.

"I played only four shots at the weekend and I won the tournament, but the most important thing is I have the trophy in my hand."

Levy will next play in the Volvo World Match Play Championship, which starts Wednesday at London Golf Club in Ash, England. Still on the Tour's schedule are the Hong Kong Open - which tees off Thursday - and the ISPS Perth International before the 2014 season concludes with the Final Series, consisting of the BMW Masters in Shanghai, the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, the Turkish Open and the year-ending DP World Tour Championship Dubai on November 20.

Levy hopes his hot play goes with him to England. "I'm going to try to play like I played the first two rounds," he said. "I've impressed myself with the way I've played golf and I think I need to continue like that."

For all the scores, visit http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2014/tournamentid=2014080/index.html.