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Tuesday, December 02, 2008


Laura want's to be party-pooper at

Annika's farewell tournament


FROM THE LADIES' EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
England’s most successful female golfer Laura Davies has set her sights on next week’s Dubai Ladies Masters at Emirates Golf Club.
The seasoned star wants to cause an upset by beating defending champion Annika Sorenstam in her farewell tournament.
“I’m playing well and I’m going to try to win it. I’m going to try and ruin Annika’s party,” said Davies ahead of the Ladies European Tour’s season ending event.
Making the trophy even more enticing to Davies is the fact that Sorenstam is targeting her third straight victory at the tournament and her 90th win worldwide.
After Dubai, the Swede will step away from the game to pursue business interests and start a family with her fiancée Mike McGee, to whom she is to be married in January.

“She is trying to win three on the trot so it will be hard for everyone to beat her,” Davies added. “She obviously likes the course and is playing well but you’ve got to set your sights high.”
Davies has won three titles herself this season. The first was the New South Wales Open in February, which was an Australian Ladies Professional Golf (ALPG) event. She then retained her Austrian title at the UNIQA Ladies Golf Open presented by Raiffeisen on the Ladies European Tour in September and completed the hat trick with a win at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco in November, which was a non-official invitational tournament.

She recorded a further four top ten finishes on the LET in 2008 and one on the LPGA: a tie for ninth at the Safeway International Presented by Coca-Cola, but has mixed feelings about her season so far.

“I’m very happy with the wins but I’m not very happy with how I played in America. I was 95th on the money list which is my lowest by 35 spots. The only time I was outside the top 40 was once in 1991 and this year is my worst finish on the LPGA so I’m very disappointed,” the four time major winner said.

“I didn’t play well in America. I got off to a bad start. My step-dad had an operation in February and I missed the first four tournaments. I always felt I was a little bit behind everyone when I started. I think I put too much pressure on myself and I ended up playing badly. It was all in my own mind and I caused myself a bad year really.”

Davies is starting next season early with four events in Australia and is hoping to be more positive. “I want to keep winning. I’ve won 71 tournaments and I want to carry on,” she said. “I just love the competition.”

At 45-years old she has been playing for 10 years longer than Sorenstam but unlike the Swede, there are no signs of her giving up her career just yet. “I want to be ready to go again next year and be in The Solheim Cup. That is a big thing for me next year,” she said.

If she can win the €75,000 first prize at the Dubai Ladies Masters next week or add a few top- ten finishes, then an 11th Solheim Cup appearance next year will be a very likely bet.


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