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European Tour Article
61st Telecom Italia Open

McDowell clinches Italia Open in Monday Playoff
Persistent delays due to electric storms caused the 61st Telecom Italia Open to be reduced to a 54-hole contest but even the shortened event could not be completed on Sunday as play was abandoned yet again. None of this seemed to bother the consistent Irishman, Graeme McDowell, who followed up two rounds of 66 with a final round of 65. His total of 197 earned him a place in a playoff on Monday morning with Frenchman Thomas Levet which he eventually won on the fourth sudden death hole.


Graeme McDowell.
Photo - Getty Images


Thomas Levet.
Photo - Getty Images

 Levet and McDowell matched pars twice on the 18th before moving back to the 17th where they both shot birdies. Back on the 18th for the 3rd time the advantage fell to McDowell when Levet hit his approach shot fat and it ended in the lake guarding the green. From there he could only manage bogey and McDowell's two-putt par was enough to secure his 2nd European Tour title and prize money of €200,000 which took him into the 2004 Volvo Order of Merit top ten.
Another Frenchman, Gregory Havret, also recorded a final round of 65 to finish one shot out of the playoff on 198. Havret, who won this event as a rookie in 2001 when it was held in Sardinia, is still looking for his second Tour victory. This was his third top-ten finish of 2004 having lost out to Marcel Siem in a playoff at the Dunhill Championship in January and taking a share of ninth place in the Algarve Open de Portugal last month.


Gregory Havret.
Photo - Getty Images


Angel Cabrera.
Photo - Getty Images

 Argentinian Angel Cabrera looked as though he may follow up on the recent European Tour success of countryman Ricardo Gonzalez but a final round of 69 left him in solo 4th place with a total of 199. His second round 63 was the lowest round of the tournament, matched only by the 63 of local amateur Francesco Molinari, also in round two. Molinari's 54-hole total of 205 gave him a share 13th place and the distinction of being top amateur and top Italian competitor in the event.
 

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