Gavan Neil Levenson is a South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n professional golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

er.

Levenson was born in Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

. He represented South Africa in the 1976 Eisenhower Trophy

Eisenhower Trophy

The Eisenhower Trophy is a biennial world amateur team golf championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. It is named for Dwight D. Eisenhower, the President of the United States when the tournament was first played, who was a keen amateur golfer. Recent tournaments have...

 and won several major amateur tournaments including the French and Rhodesian Open Amateur Championships in 1978. He turned professional later that year and joined the European Tour

PGA European Tour

The PGA European Tour is an organization which operates the three leading men's professional golf tours in Europe: the elite European Tour, the European Seniors Tour and the developmental Challenge Tour. Its headquarters are at Wentworth Club in Virginia Water, Surrey, England...

 the following year, winning the Belgian Open and finishing in 29th place on the Order of Merit in his rookie season.

After two seasons in Europe, Levenson qualified for the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 based PGA Tour

PGA Tour

The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...

. He spent four largely unsuccessful years on the tour, only recording one top ten finish when he tied for 4th place at the 1982 Greater Hartford Open. He returned to Europe in 1985, and although he consistently finished inside the top 100 on the Order of Merit, he did not win again on the European Tour until the 1992 Open de Baleares

Open de Baleares

The Open de Baleares was a European Tour golf tournament which was played annually from 1988 to 1995. It had five names in eight years. It was staged at various courses on Majorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands of Spain. The most notable winner was five times major championship winner Seve...

.

Levenson also played on the Southern Africa Tour (now the Sunshine Tour

Sunshine Tour

The Sunshine Tour is a men's professional golf tour based in Southern Africa. For much of its history it was known either as the South African Tour or the FNB Tour, but it rebranded itself in an attempt to broaden its appeal...

) during the northern hemisphere

Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...

 winters. He won five titles in South Africa, including one South African Open Championship and one South African PGA Championship

South African PGA Championship

The Telkom PGA Championship, as it is currently known for sponsorship reasons, is one of the most prestigious golf tournaments on the Sunshine Tour...

, and topped the Order of Merit in 1983/84.

Since turning fifty, Levenson has played on the European Seniors Tour

European Seniors Tour

The European Seniors Tour is a professional tour for male golfers aged 50 and over run by the PGA European Tour.The Tour was founded in 1992. In 2008 it had a total prize fund of €7,729,284, so it is much further behind the U.S.-based Champions Tour in relative prize money than the main European...

, where he has one victory, achieved in just his second tournament, the 2004 DGM Barbados Open.

Amateur wins (3)

• 1975 South African Amateur Stroke-Play Championship
• 1978 French Amateur Open Championship, Rhodesian Amateur Open Championship

Southern Africa Tour wins (5)

• 1983 Sigma Vaal Reefs Open
• 1984 Lexington PGA Championship
• 1985 South African Open
• 1986 ICL International
• 1990 ICL International

Results in major championships

Tournament	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
The Masters	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open U.S. Open (golf) The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship The Open Championship The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT
PGA Championship PGA Championship The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
The Masters	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open U.S. Open (golf) The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship The Open Championship The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	T36	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	79
PGA Championship PGA Championship The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1990	1991
The Masters	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open U.S. Open (golf) The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship The Open Championship The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...	CUT	T57
PGA Championship PGA Championship The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...	DNP	DNP

DNP = Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut

"T" = tied

Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

External links