Laura Davies visits World Golf Hall of Fame ahead of her induction

 

Laura Davies was so obsessed with sports as a young girl that she can't recall one that was played in her native England that she didn't attempt.

 

"Golf, tennis, cricket, soccer, snooker, pool, darts ... it's all I've ever done," said the four-time major champion and winner of 84 worldwide events on Tuesday during her first visit to the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine. "I was pretty good at sports, watched them, played all of them I could. But golf is the one that I wanted to do, that I thought I could make a little money."

 

Davies made more than a little money and commanded international fame and respect as one of the most prolific winners in women's professional golf. Davies has won 20 LPGA Tour events and 45 Ladies European Tour titles – the latter an all-time record. She was voted into the Hall of Fame last fall and will be inducted on July 13 at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, three days before the start of the Open Championship.

 

Also entering the Hall will be Mark O'Meara, David Graham and the late architect A.W. Tillinghast.

 

Davis will get the home game next door to what she said was her favorite course, even though she hasn't made the cut in two Women's Open Championships she has played there.

 

In addition, she recently was voted as one of the first female members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, which operates the Open and is based at St. Andrews, considered to be the birthplace of the game.

 

"Pure luck, wasn't it," she said. "I turned out really lucky to have been named a member of the R&A and inducted into the Hall of Fame during Open week. It doesn't get much better than that."

 

At the age of 51, Davies still maintains a full playing schedule and said she will enter 33 tournaments this season on both tours. She is the female version of Gary Player, globe-trotting to one country after another to play golf.

 

Davies did something not even Player has done: win on five continents in one year. Davies won on the LPGA, the LET, Japan, Australia and Thailand in 1994 and also captured the LPGA money title and the LPGA Championship.

 

Davies said her visit to the Hall of Fame was a sports fans' dream.

 

"It's on a much bigger scale than I ever imagined," she said. "I'm a big sports fan, and obviously a golf fan, and seeing the trophies and memorabilia of players I've admired and love to read about was as good as it gets."

 

Davies said women's professional golf has changed from the first time she turned pro at the age of 21. She had to play on a boys club team during her teenage years because of a lack of opportunities for girls. She was the No. 2 player on that team.

 

"I didn't have a nutritionist, a therapist or something-ist," she said. "I had my brother who got me started and my family and that was the way we did it. I did it the hard way, but I wouldn't have it any other way."

 

She said the LPGA Tour has a more glamorous image in recent years, but the idea of using sex appeal to attract attention to women's golf isn't new.

 

"It's sort of come full circle," she said. "We've gone from Jan Stephenson in a bath with nothing on but a few golf balls around her [in 1985] and now Lexi Thompson's cover [on Golf Digest]. If Lexi wants to do that, why not? It's good for the game."

 

This article was written by Garry Smits from The Florida Times-Union and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.