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Laura Davies is hoping that a potential win in the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco this week can help to boost her chances of Solheim Cup qualification.
Davies, who will turn 50 in October, is the only player in the history of The Solheim Cup to have participated in every event since 1990 and is desperate to make her 13th appearance in America this summer.
The Brit, currently ranked 159th in the world, is one of eight players at Golf de l’Océan in Agadir this week who can leap into the all-important top four on the European points list that will qualify for The 2013 Solheim Cup at Colorado Golf Club.
She needs to be in the top four on the list by 4th August to qualify from the LET, or be one of the top four Europeans on the Rolex Rankings, to avoid relying on a pick from Swedish captain Liselotte Neumann.
“Obviously Solheim Cup is a big consideration. I’m not doing particularly well so I’m not holding out too many hopes of getting in this year but if I can get a good run going, obviously starting here would be a great boost,” she said.
“I’ve never seen the course before but hopefully it’s a course I like and I can make some putts and get back into things. The last couple of weeks have been very disappointing so you’ve just got to hope that you can turn it around quickly.”
A win at the Lalla Meryem Cup would see Davies leapfrog Swede Pernilla Lindberg into fourth position on the points list, behind Carlota Ciganda, Suzann Pettersen and Caroline Masson.
Veronica Zorzi, Anne-Lise Caudal, Melissa Reid, Felicity Johnson, Trish Johnson, Gwladys Nocera and Carly Booth are the other Cup contenders in Morocco.
From the Rolex Rankings, the next four players poised to qualify for the European team are Catriona Matthew, Azahara Munoz, Beatriz Recari – who won the Kia Classic at the weekend – and Anna Nordqvist respectively.
Davies won the 2008 Lalla Meryem Cup at Royal Dar Es Salam in Rabat before the event joined the LET schedule in 2010. The 80-time tournament winner has not won on the LET since the Indian Open in December that year, although she did win the ISPS Legends Tour Open in November.
