LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England – Yes, Laura Davies hasn’t given up hope she can play her way into the LPGA Hall of Fame.
No, she repeated Wednesday, she still isn’t interested in being the European Solheim Cup captain.
Davies needs 27 points to earn entry into the LPGA Hall of Fame. She has been stuck on 25 for almost two decades, since her last LPGA victory, the Wegman’s Rochester International in 2001.
An LPGA title is worth one point, a major championship two points.
At 54, with her run into Sunday contention at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup last spring, Davies showed she can still give herself chances to win. She tied for second against a strong field in Phoenix.
With her victory at the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open two weeks ago, Davies stocked up on some confidence coming into this week’s Ricoh Women’s British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes in her native England.
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“If I’d have won in Phoenix, I’d now only be one point away, which would be every week you’d have a crack at it,” Davies said. “I’d like to get in that position, so that you had a chance every week to do that. That’s something I’ve always wanted to do. That’s why I’m probably here still trying. But it’s a tough call now. You got the players like Ariya [Jutanugarn] and all the other girls that are playing unbelievably good golf. Winning a tournament is not an easy thing now.”
Davies sacrificed chances to get into the LPGA Hall of Fame earlier in her career, when her loyalty to the Ladies European Tour limited her LPGA starts. She won 20 LPGA titles and 45 LET titles.
She was asked if she regretted not taking advantage of more LPGA chances in her prime.
“No,” she said. “I made a decision. I love playing in Europe. I love coming back playing all the European events, and at the time you’re not thinking about Hall of Fame things. You’re just playing where you’re playing.
“I think if I’d have played solely in America, yeah, I’d have been in the Hall of Fame maybe 10, 15 years ago. But at the time, I made the decision to come back and play because I really enjoyed it. It wasn’t a hardship. I wanted to do it, and one day I’ll look back and it either will or won’t have cost me – and it probably will have cost me because two more wins is a big call.”
And does she think the LPGA points system is unfair to her in properly measuring her importance to the tour?
“Oh, I love it,” Davies said. “Anything you vote on, I’m not a big fan of. It’s judges. I lose interest in that quickly. But LPGA Hall of Fame is the hardest Hall of Fame, I think, probably to get in, because it’s completely performance related. Twenty-seven points is the magic number, and if you don’t get it, you’re not in the Hall of Fame, and that’s fair enough. I like that.”
Davies has long said she doesn’t want to be a Solheim Cup captain. She told GolfChannel.com a few years ago she would consider it if the Solheim Cup ever decided to hold the event in England, but she isn’t sure about that now, either.
“It’s 12 players, and you’ve gotta go and get them bananas and towels, it’s too much for me,” Davies said. “Solheim Cup players lose the ability to function for one week every two years. It would drive me insane to be asked to go and get bananas on the third green. I couldn’t handle it. I’m not interested. I don’t want to do it. I love watching it. I love being part of the TV coverage of it, and I’m European fan.”
