CHICAGO, United States (AFP)–England’s Laura Davies cruised to a 10-stroke victory Sunday at the inaugural US Senior Women’s Open, firing a bogey-free five-under par 68 to complete the rout at Chicago Golf Club.
The 54-year-old World Golf Hall of Famer birdied all five par-5 holes to finish 72 holes on 16-under 276, capturing her 85th career triumph worldwide.
“It’s great, seeing this trophy paraded down for the very first time and I get my name on it first,” Davies said. “This championship will be played for many years and there will only be one first winner. Obviously quite a proud moment for me to win that.”
American Juli Inkster was second on 286 after a closing 73 with England’s Trish Johnson third, two strokes further adrift after a 73 in the showdown for the world’s top 50-and-over women golfers.
Davies led Inkster by six as they reached the par-3 10th, where the American missed a 15-foot birdie putt and the Briton scrambled to salvage par from 70 feet.
“That to me was when I really started to think I might have one hand on the trophy and just had to get the other one in there,” Davies said.
Davies, the 1987 US Women’s Open champion, has won 20 LPGA titles and taken 45 Ladies European Tour trophies. But she had not won any title since the 2010 Hero Honda Women’s Indian Open on the Ladies European Tour.
“I hadn’t won for eight years, so the pressure you’re playing under when you’re trying to just do something for yourself, prove to yourself you can still win, makes this win rank highly up there,” Davies said.
“It’s hard to compare tournaments, but this is very high on my list of achievements, I can assure you.”
© Agence France-Presse
