Golf: Davies leaves rest in wake

LAURA DAVIES returned a closing round of 71 in strong winds to sweep to a runaway victory in the Irish Women's Open at the St Margaret's course in Dublin yesterday.

Davies sealed a 30th win in her professional career when an aggregate score of 282, six under par, enabled her to finish eight strokes ahead of Helen Wadsworth, the Welsh player who earned a share of second place with Sweden's Carin Hjalmarsson.

'This is an important victory for me,' Davies said after recording her fifth success of the year. 'It means that I have had at least one European Tour victory in each of the last 10 years.'

Davies was already four strokes clear of the field at the final turn, but she then left challengers chasing her shadow. She chipped in from 40 feet for a birdie at the 12th before following up another birdie at the 16th with an eagle three from 20 feet at the long 17th.

Wadsworth, the winner of the European Masters tournament earlier this season, was one of only five players to manage par or better. The former Curtis Cup player covered the last dozen holes in one under par to register a 72 and move through the field into her share of second place.

IRISH HOLIDAYS WOMEN'S OPEN (Dublin) Leading final-round scores (GB or Irl unless stated): 282 L Davies 70 72 69 71. 290 H Wadsworth 72 71 75 72; C Hjalmarsson (Swe) 72 75 70 73. 291 F Dassu (It) 70 71 77 73; C Hall 72 74 69 76. 292 C Nilsmark (Swe) 72 76 72 72; E Orley (Swit) 76 73 70 73; S Gronberg-Whitmore (Swe) 72 72 73 75. 293 C Dibnah (Aus) 69 77 75 72. 294 C Figg-Currier (US) 75 73 71 75; K Espinasse (Fr) 72 71 75 76; R Hetherington (Aus) 72 73 72 77. 295 K Lunn (Aus) 71 74 75 75; S Gautrey (Aus) 72 76 71 76; K Pearce (Aus) 71 74 73 77. 296 F Fehlauer (Ger) 73 75 74 74; K Orum (Den) 73 75 72 76; P Rizzo (US) 70 70 74 82. 297 S Waugh (Aus) 79 73 71 74; S Bennett 75 75 72 75. 298 J Arnold (NZ) 74 77 74 73; A Shapcott 74 71 77 76; L Lambert (Aus) 73 74 75 76; T Craik 77 69 75 77; J Forbes 71 77 73 77. 299 L Weima (Hol) 72 78 77 72; L Navarro (Spa) 74 77 74 74; P Meunier (Fra) 69 75 79 76; G Stewart 72 77 74 76; K Davies 75 75 73 76.