Davies Rides Her Irons in Drive to L.A. Victory

The strategy went firmly against her gambling grain.

Laura Davies began the final day of the 54-hole, $750,000 L.A. Women’s Championship with a three-stroke lead and intended to tread water while everyone around her drowned.

Davies, perhaps the longest hitter and most avid gambler on the LPGA Tour, kept her driver in her bag, the better to stay out of the muddy bluegrass, fescue and rye rough on a rainy day at Wood Ranch Golf Club in Simi Valley.

No one could have blamed her for having second thoughts after her first shot Sunday, a sharp hook into a bunker with a three-iron on a par-four, dog-leg right. Davies double-bogeyed the hole and the cushion built by playing six under par the first two days had nearly evaporated.

But her iron shots were matched by an iron will.

Davies stayed the course--no woods and no umbrella all day--and notched her first LPGA victory in 14 months with a five-under 211, three strokes ahead of Michele Redman, Janice Moodie and Carin Koch.

Davies’ 67-71-73 was good for a purse of $112,500. And her caution proved shrewd on a day only four players broke par.

Even with the preferred lie rule in effect, allowing players to lift and place fairway shots in a more desirable position, the 6,222-yard course was very difficult.

“The idea was to hit fairways with the three-iron all the way around,” Davies said. “It was impossible to get the club head through from the rough, so we came up with a plan and didn’t waver.

“It was a battle of attrition, really.”

It appeared early that Davies might be among the first to fade. The errant tee shot on the first hole was followed on the third by another pulled three-iron that resulted in a bogey. For a brief moment, Davies was tied at three-under with Dottie Pepper, who began the round two under and birdied the par-five second hole.

“I have a good, strong caddie [Terry Mundy] who convinced me over and over that if we shot par, we’d win,” Davies said. “Those were horrible shots, but Terry reminded me that it was the kind of day when everyone was going to struggle.”

Pepper bogeyed the par-four fifth hole and Davies birdied the same hole two threesomes later to retake the lead for good.

Pepper continued to fade, finishing the tournament at even par, and nobody else made a strong charge. Mi Hyun Kim began the day three-under but despite the encouragement of about 100 loyal fans braving the weather--easily the largest following for any player--she bogeyed three holes on the back nine and slid to even par.

The only question was whether Davies would make it through the quagmire of a back nine without disaster.

A birdie on 11, the most water-damaged hole, restored Davies’ three-stroke lead and put her five under. However, she promptly bogeyed 12, then botched a three-iron tee shot on 14 for another bogey about the time Koch finished her round of 70 with a 15-foot birdie putt on 18.

All of a sudden the lead was one stroke.

“That was a stupid bogey on 14,” Davies said. “I was panicking a bit.”

Her strength helped on the 496-yard par-five 15th hole. Davies easily reached the green with two three-irons and a wedge, and made an eight-foot putt for a birdie and a two-stroke lead.

Redman and Moodie were finishing their rounds when Davies all but clinched the victory by holing a 40-foot chip on the par-three 17th.

It was the 59th career win and 18th on the LPGA Tour for Davies, and it ended a 34-month slump during which she won only the 1998 PageNet Tour Championship.

Three days earlier Davies, 36, underwent laser surgery on her eyes, correcting vision she said had progressively deteriorated the past 12 years. She wore sunglasses the first two rounds to protect her eyes, but walked to the first tee Sunday without them. A marshal opened the ropes to the tee box but Davies went around him and ducked under the ropes a few yards away.

This was a day she would do things her way. Nearly every other player toured the course with an umbrella. Not Davies.

“Umbrellas make my hands cold,” she said. “I’d rather be a wet rat and a winner than a dry loser.”

Nearly 5 1/2 hours later, a sopping but beaming Davies marched to the final hole a wire-to-wire winner.

It was quite a sight.

“Being able to see the trophy on the 18th green, that was nice,” she said. “I hadn’t seen one of those for a while.”

L.A. WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP

At Wood Ranch

Final Scores

211 (-5)

$112,500

Laura Davies

67-71-73

3 tied at 214