Levet misses chance to end legend of Van de Velde

So once again a Frenchman came to the 18th needing to keep his head to win the Open and once again he came up short. They call it déjà vu where Thomas Levet comes from, but it would be unfair to write him off as just another Jean Van de Velde.

When Van de Velde came to the 18th at Carnoustie in 1999 he only needed to make a double-bogey six to win the claret jug; the Open was his to lose. When Levet came to the 18th during the four-man play-off yesterday he was not to know that a par four would suffice. Ernie Els and Stuart Appleby were still on the 17th and for all he knew he needed a birdie to win; the Open, he believed, was his to win.

The 33-year-old Parisian reached into his bag for driver and dispatched his ball into the deep rough. From there he found a bunker short of the green and his recovery only sneaked on to the green. He charged his first putt, but then bravely holed the 10-footer back that ultimately took him into a sudden-death play-off with Els.

Again it was the 18th and again he reached for his driver and again he found trouble off the tee, this time in a fairway bunker. He came out well but was still left with an eight-iron which he put to within 20 feet. His putt scraped by the hole before he bravely holed a six-footer to put the pressure on Els. The South African responded.

Levet's reaction had echoes of Van de Velde's "c'est la vie" appraisal. "I played well," he said. "I don't regret anything. I wasn't going to change my approach," he said when asked if it was wise to take a driver for a second time on the decisive 18th. "I was coming from behind, I had no option. Ernie is a great champion."

A cheque for a little under £300,000 would have helped cushion the blow for a professional who has spent his career making a living on the fringes of the leaderboards. Levet has two European titles to his name but this was his biggest moment by far.

"At the start of the day I wanted to get an exemption spot for next year," he said. In the event he almost got one for the rest of his playing life. A final-round 66, that included four birdies and an eagle at the 17th, hurled him into the play-off and after a long, curling putt on the 16th – the second of four play-off holes – it seemed that French golf could at last bury the legend of Jean and claim their first Open winner since Arnaud Massy in 1907. Then came the two bogeys on the 18th and the void in the Gallic trophy room remains.

Levet was not complaining, however, saying he had "lost to a great player". "He's a big man, very talented." These were sentiments he had earlier revealed as he waited for Els to finish his round proper. "We live to make birdies and I hope Ernie's going to win it by two," he said as Els played the 17th. "That's it. He deserves it. He's a good man, and I'm getting better, but I'm not that good at it." His gesture on the 18th when he held Els aloft – "Levetation," as one wag called it – showed that these were not hollow words.

The two other losers in the play-off – the Australian duo of Appleby and Steve Elkington – also had plenty to look forward to after final rounds of 65 and 66. The second place would have been more significant to Appleby. In 1998, the day after Mark O'Meara had won at Royal Birkdale, Appleby's young wife, Renay, died after a taxi reversed into her outside Waterloo station. At least after yesterday the Open can mean more to him than simply tragedy.