A bawling baby led to back-to-back bogeys, but Alexander Levy did not throw his toys out of the pram as a superb hole in one ensured the Frenchman made his third round look like child’s play yesterday.
His fantastic feat on the fourth – the second of the weekend after Matthew Southgate’s hole in one on the seventh on Friday – saw Levy post a sublime -7 under 65 that leaves him tied for third place at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, just three shots off the lead.
He added seven birdies to the hole in one, although he briefly dropped his concentration after a baby started crying as he was putting on 15 – eventually leading to a bogey.
The 27-year-old shot an ominous look in the direction of the family as he briefly lost focus, shanking his tee shot on 16, which again led to a bogey – doubling his tally for the weekend to four.
But he recovered to par 17 and birdie the last to cap a fine performance.
“It was tough to stay focused, I lost a bit today, especially 14 and 15,” Levy said of the distraction at 15.
“It was a long day but I’m pleased with what I did on 17 and 18, I put a lot in and made a good birdie on the last.”
Despite the incident, Levy revealed he was actually more frustrated by perhaps glancing too much at the leaderboard and how well he was playing.
“I was not looking, or not looking every time. I just started to think about what can happen and I don’t enjoy the moment,” he added.
“There was a big crowd there. It was tough because it was noisy and so I lost a little bit of concentration, so it was not easy, but I will learn from that and try my best tomorrow.
“The last few days I play some good golf. I enjoy and try to hit the perfect shots. I got a good stretch nine to 14.
“And from there, I start to think, I’m leading the tournament, so I put a little bit more pressure on my shoulders, and I miss three short putts in a row. But I bounce back on 18 with a great birdie.”
Levy birdied the third but better was to come as he aced the fourth from 171 yards with a nine iron to get to -13 under. Despite being elated, he later admitted it was lucky.
“I hit a perfect shot straight to the flag and I don’t know, I get lucky because it’s a lot of downhill, left-to-right, and I just watched. It was perfect pace, a perfect shot. But it’s little bit lucky,” he said.
Southgate’s feat on day two saw him win an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra watch, and Levy joked he was waiting for his own gift for holing in one.
“It feels nice, but I look around and no prize, so I was a little bit upset,” he said, laughing.
