Dame Laura Davies will be at the Solheim Cup this week in Virginia, but will be acting as counsel to European captain Suzann Pettersen.
Like she did at Finca Cortesin last year and twice before that, Davies will be on hand with her vast experience and knowledge as a vice-captain to hopefully steer Europe to a third win against Team USA in four years.
Davies played in the first 12 Solheim Cups for Europe, becoming part of the event’s furniture while dazzling in her individual career. She is a four-time major champion but as she admitted ahead of the AIG Women’s Open last month, her playing days are slowly becoming a thing of the past.
Despite the tournament landing on the Old Course at St Andrews, golf’s most famous venue, the legendary Englishwoman thought it was best not to play in what was the final year of her exemption to appear in the tournament. She won this event in 1986 at Royal Birkdale before it officially became an LPGA major.
It would’ve been her 44th consecutive start at the Women’s Open.
“I’m just not playing enough golf now to warrant a spot in the field,” said Davies, who instead worked as part of the Sky Sports broadcast team. “As it gets closer, I’m getting sadder and sadder with the fact I’m not going to be playing there.
“It has been a week that I’ve always looked forward to. It was a really tough decision, but I think it’s the right decision. I wouldn’t be looking forward to it because my game is not good enough.”
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Laura Davies golf career winding down due to injury and inactivity
Davies missed the cut in last year’s Women’s PGA Championship and also the Scottish Open. She withdrew from the AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath with a wrist injury. She also entered the US Senior Women’s Open earlier this year but withdrew before the end of the second round.
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“If you’re just turning up because you just want to cross the bridge at 18, it’s for the wrong reason,” Davies said. “I like to be the centre of attention for playing great golf, not just for the sake of being there. That doesn’t appeal to me at all, to be honest with you. They’d have wanted me to do it and I’d have hated every second of it.
“I went to play the US Senior Open a few weeks ago and if I’d have done well there, I might have regretted it (not playing at the Old Course) a little bit. As it turns out, I got heat stroke and didn’t even finish 36 holes in the end.
“I hit it OK but I only went like 27 holes before I had to withdraw. If I’d had a nice top five, top 10 finish there and played good golf, in the back of your mind, you always see you’ve got one more in you and that might have been the regret, but now it’s not.”
Davies has become a staple of the Sky Sports Golf commentary box and her presence in the team room for Europe this week at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club will be priceless for the 12 players competing. A captaincy reign of her own is surely in the offing.
Despite the heroics of her illustrious career which yielded 87 professional wins and began with her first start at the Women’s Open as a 16-year-old amateur, there is one opponent that no athlete can beat: time.
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Similar to Tiger Woods’ exploits in major championships in the last two years, Davies’ activity at the top level is perhaps coming to a natural conclusion and turning down one final walk across the Swilcan Bridge is the strongest signal yet.
But this is a 60-year-old we are talking about who was at year’s Women’s PGA Championship in the same field as Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu, and Lydia Ko, 36 years after winning her first major title. What this sport allows its participants is longevity and Davies has squeezed everything from it since turning professional in 1985.
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How would you rank the Laura Davies golf career in the history of the women’s game? How many current players have similar records to the Laura Davies golf career? Tell us on X!
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