Golf: Davies finds pot of gold on the coast

LAURA DAVIES, of Britain, shot a four-under-par 69 yesterday to hold off three American rivals and win the Australian Ladies' Masters championship at Royal Pines on Australia's Gold Coast.

The 30-year-old former British and US Open champion secured victory with a birdie on the par-five 18th while Muffin Spencer-Devlin missed a four and a half foot birdie putt that would have forced a play- off. Spencer-Devlin and the twice champion Jane Geddes, the overnight leaders, both had final rounds of 73. They tied for second with another American, Leigh Ann Mills, who had a flawless final round of 68. Li Wen-lin, of Taiwan, was fifth after a final round of 70.

Davies finished with an eight-under-par aggregate of 211 for her fourth tournament success of the year and the 25th of her career. Her round included five birdies and a single bogey, on the par-five ninth hole.

Scores, Sporting Digest, page 31