Dame Laura Davies made a strong start to the Evian Championship when she opened with a two-under-par 69 in the first round on Friday.
Davies has a long history with the event, as the winner of the 1995 and 1996 Evian Masters, but this is her best start since the tournament became a global Major in 2013.
“That was decent,” said Davies, who had six birdies and three bogeys in total. “Three or four bogeys, but I had some chances and when I gave myself a chance, I made the putts, and drove it really well, which I think is the key around this golf course. If you drive it well, you’ve got a chance. If you don’t, then you’re in trouble.”
Having played her first eight holes in four-over-par before play was called off due to adverse weather on Thursday, Davies was happy to have benefited from the decision to start afresh on Friday and make the championship 54-holes.
She added: “I think that’s four in the 30-odd years I’ve been out here. Two have gone for me, two have gone against me, so this is a for-me one. The other one that was for-me was where we play in Virginia, Williamsburg, Kingsmill. That was a do-over. And then the British Open was against me and then the Welsh Open was massively against me. It’s a tough decision. There’s always going to be winners and losers. I mean, look at (Sung Hyun Park). She was 6-over, wasn’t she? You can’t focus on that.”
Commenting on the decision to wipe the early scores, she said: “I thought it was the fairest thing to do.
“I was surprised; happy surprised, because I just thought the conditions yesterday morning were virtually unplayable. Quite a few times you were putting and the ball was oscillating. It wasn’t moving, but you’re over a three-foot putt downhill with a 20-mile-an-hour, 30-mile-an-hour wind and your ball is kind of oscillating. It wasn’t unplayable at the time, but it was right on the limits.”
Although Thursday’s golf was a wash out, the annual charity football match for the ELA went ahead in the evening. Davies rook the role of manager, rather than the usual goal keeper.
She said: “I was there for the warmup, but I haven’t played for two and a half years now since I hurt my Achilles, and I’ve lost all the power. I am going to start playing again over the winter five a side, but it’s a big jump to go from no football to a full pitch, and I knew after the warmup there was no way. It would have been stupidity to play to be honest, but hopefully this time next year I’ll have been playing again and I’ll be able to have a go, because I was helping put the team together, so at least I was involved.”
