Celebratory plunge puts Levet’s Open in doubt

France’s Thomas Levet is a doubt for the British Open after breaking his leg by jumping into a lake to celebrate victory at his home tournament on Sunday. The 42-year-old Frenchman has already been ruled out of this week’s Scottish Open after suffering a small fracture to his shin when he leapt into the water just minutes after winning the French Open in Saint Quentin last weekend.  He has refused to rule himself out of The Open which gets underway on July 14 in the hope that intensive treatment will allow him to compete. “Thomas Levet has a small fracture on his shin and has withdrawn from the Scottish Open,” his management company IMG said in a statement. “He picked up this injury after jumping into the water in celebration of winning the Alstom Open de France. “Although he currently has a cast on his leg, he will not withdraw from the Open Championship until he has received intensive treatment to the fracture and has consulted with a specialist again later this week. “He will, of course, be doing everything he can to tee up at the Open.” Levet lost a five-hole playoff to Ernie Els in the 2002 Open at Muirfield.

New Caledonia joins Australasian PGA tourSydney: The South Pacific Golf Open in New Caledonia has been added to the PGA Tour of Australasia tournament schedule later this year, tour officials said on Monday. The tournament will be played from September 14-17 at Tina Golf Club in Noumea, the PGA Tour of Australasia said. Officials said it would be a fully-sanctioned event and would count towards the Tour’s Order of Merit. The limited field four-round South Pacific Golf Open will have a minimum of 70 professionals playing for Aus$110,000 ($118,000) with Aus$16,500 going to the winner. The champion from the tournament will also gain a spot in the Tour’s biggest events including the Australian Open, PGA Championship, New Zealand Open and Australian Masters as well as a start in the majority of the remaining 2011 OneAsia events, the PGA said. “The elevation of this event to the PGA Tour of Australasia means a lot to us as the tournament has the support of everybody here in New Caledonia,” tournament director Patrick Koch said. The par-72 Tina Golf Club is one of three 18-hole golf courses in New Caledonia.