John Huggan

Chatting it up about golf

John Huggan is the European correspondent for both Golf Digest and Golf World. He is also the golf columnist for Scotland on Sunday. He lives in Dunbar, Scotland, where he hits many very bad half-wedge shots from around 75-yards or so.

Today Huggan chats it up about the Ginn Open and how the demise of Laura Davies continues to hurt her chances of making the Hall-of-Fame on her record.

- GolfObserver editors

Laura Davies and the Hall-of-Fame
April 15, 2006

Photo: ©Doug Benc/Getty Images Despite being six down with ten holes to play, Brittany Lincicome was still able to win the Ginn Open when Laura Davies and Lorena Ochoa played there final six holes in six over par.

By the end of what was always going to be a long hard day on the links, things had gotten ugly. Make that really ugly. Although eventual champion Brittany Lincicome deserved every plaudit and the $390,000 check that came her way after a gritty level par round of 72 in the trying conditions, the bigger story of the Ginn Open's stormy final round was the failure of world number one-in waiting Lorena Ochoa and veteran Laura Davies to cope with the gusting wind that transformed the Reunion Resort course from purring pussycat to testing tiger.

Ochoa's closing double bogey - her second on the back-nine - was bad enough, but Davies' five over par 7-7 finish was even more shocking, albeit that the way in which the 43-year old Brit accumulated those 14 shots was an unerringly accurate indication of just why the four-time major champion has not won on the LPGA Tour since 2001. All the old faults were on display.

Wild driving? Check.
Over-ambition when in trouble? Check.
Dodgy putting. Check.

Photo: © Al Messerschmidt/WireImage Laura Davies reacts to missing a short putt at the 17th hole.

For all that, Davies was making positive noises immediately after what had to have been a traumatic half hour or so. "At least I played well on a Sunday in tough conditions," she claimed, almost convincingly.

Still, the nine-time Solheim Cup stalwart is right to look on the bright side of what eventually added up to a 79 on a day when only one player, Meena Lee, broke par. It has, after all, been a while since Davies, one of the most popular figures in the ladies game, has even contended at the highest level. Which has long been a pity, given that she needs only one major title or two regular tour victories to finally clinch what would be a well-deserved spot in the LPGA Hall of Fame.

"I simply think that if she doesn't play another stroke, Laura should be in the Hall of Fame," says Judy Rankin, a 26-time winner on the LPGA Tour and one who also had troubles getting into the Hall-of-Fame on her playing record. "Too many have forgotten that Laura opened up the avenues of international golf before the LPGA became the world tour it is today."

Indeed, Rankin speaks the truth. Almost single-handedly, Davies has, for two decades, carried the Women's European Tour on her charismatic back. Had it not been for her willingness to 'pitch up' at a series of unlikely - and hardly lucrative - venues over the years, it is likely that the WET would have long ago gone the way of the dodo. For such selflessness alone, Davies merits a place in any Hall of Fame.

"She has supported the European Tour like no one else has," confirms former Solheim Cup captain Mickey Walker. "There are few people in golf with her attitude. She never turns down an interview. She always has time and always gets back to you when she says she will. She is exceptional in that regard, especially given how many demands are made on her.

Photo: © Al Messerschmidt/WireImage Laura Davies has supported both the LPGA and the Ladies European Tour for two decades now.

"She is the undisputed star of European golf. Before Annika came along she was the only woman golfer everyone had heard of. So she has always had a huge weight on her shoulders. Without her, the European Tour would have really struggled and may even have gone out of existence."

Typically, Davies takes a self-deprecating view of Walker's tribute.

"I have always enjoyed playing in Europe," she shrugs. "A lot of my friends are there. I want the tour to succeed for a selfish reason, too. I don't want to be travelling to America forever. It would be nice to have somewhere to play eight/ten events a year, as some of the older Americans do in the States. That's always in the back of my mind. So it isn't completely altruistic! I'm way too selfish for stuff like that!"

It would, however, be unrealistic to assume that her hectic long-term travel schedule has not had a negative impact on Davies' career.

Photo: ©Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images Davies Ladies European Tour wins and her membership in nine Solheim Cup teams aren't consider in Hall-of-Fame points.

"It has affected me, I suppose," she concedes. "If I had played in the US all the time as some Europeans do, I might have won more. A few years ago I played for 17 weeks in 17 different countries. That was the most I ever did in a row. I can't believe anyone has ever done that. So it probably hasn't helped me. But I'm not complaining. I love playing all the tours."

A large part of Davies' almost universal popularity is due to the apparently carefree way in which she plays the game. Entirely self-taught - she claims to have never taken a formal lesson - the former US and British Open champion remains one of the longer hitters in the women's game, her willingness to go for the flag from almost anywhere reminiscent of John 'grip it and rip it' Daly.

"I love the fact that Laura obviously feels good about herself," says leading sports psychologist Bob Rotella. "I love the fact that she loves the way she plays. I love the fact that everything about her says, 'this is who I am and this is how I live my life.'

"She is carefree and fun loving. When you do it that way, you can have a ball playing golf even when you are not performing well."

If Rotella's view is correct, it is just as well, given how Davies has performed over the last few years. With the first flush of youth long gone, her always less than orthodox swing, increasingly edgy-looking putting stroke - she seems to decelerate into the ball, especially on short putts - and reluctance to practise have, to some minds, caught up with her.

"It isn't Laura's nature to pick her swing apart and work hard," points out LPGA player and television commentator, Jane Crafter. "That isn't who she is. But there are many 'what ifs.' And dangers.

"Laura isn't just unorthodox, she is bad technically. She could have done more in that area. She has obviously needed help with her driving and putting at various times. She can be so frustrating to watch. You just want to help her so much.

"Take her putting. I'd have given her a lot of drills to work on, anything to get her stroke accelerating and shorter. And to keep her still - she moves her head and body so much.

"Her driving problems have, to me, been more mental. But being unorthodox was part of her charm. I have always felt that shoe could have made more of her putting. She has wasted a lot of years with bad putting."

Crafter is hardly alone in her assessment of the Davies technique. Others have long yearned for an opportunity to help her improve, especially that much-maligned putting stroke.

Photo: © Robert Laberge/Getty Images Laura Davies drives with irons a lot these days since driving it straight has been a problem.

"If I had Laura for half an hour I'd work on her putting," laughs leading coach David Leadbetter. "She moves so much on her putts; she almost sways.

"As a coach you always feel like you can help someone. But it comes down to how much that player wants to be helped. Her mindset is such that any sort of instruction might paralyze her rather than help her. She might lose her natural flow. Maybe that is what Laura is worried about."

All of which is nothing Davies, who three-putted the last two greens - one from as little as five feet - at the Ginn, hasn't heard many times before. And she makes the case for the defence with some gusto.

"I have no interest in having someone tell me something they can't show me," she snorts. "Nine times out of ten these so-called guru coaches can't hit their bare arses with a brass banjo, so why should I listen to any of them?

"On the other hand, if Seve comes up to me and shows me a shot, I'm totally impressed. And I'm going to try that shot. But if, say, David Leadbetter comes up and says I should do this and this, I'd want him to show me. And if he couldn't, I'd lose interest."

It must also be acknowledged that doing it her way has hardly been unsuccessful for Davies. No one wins more than 60 events worldwide without doing something right.

"I've won tournaments without going to the range all week," she continues. "I often take new clubs into play. If they feel good, I'll use them. It maybe out of the ordinary, but if more people tried my way maybe it would work for them, too!

"I once turned up in Australia having not played for nine weeks. Then I finished second-first-second in three events. Not playing made no difference. Maybe that's unique to me, I don't know.

"I've always been true to myself. I'll always try something if other people aren't doing it. I'm a bit bloody-minded. If someone else is doing something, I'd rather not do it. I'll try something else.

"Besides, if I had done all the practice I was 'supposed' to, I might not have had the longevity I've had. A lot of players I started out with have practised themselves to death. I have never withdrawn from an event through injury. If I'd kept thumping the ground with a club I'd have had to by now."

Such a carefree attitude has, of course, done nothing but endear Davies to spectators and competitors alike over the course of her 22-year professional career. Even the 21-year old Lincicome was feeling bad for her opponent at the end of an event that will do more for her own career than it would have for her Davies'.

"I was rooting for Laura all day," admitted the young American. "If anybody was going to win, I was hoping it was going to be her. She has not been at the top for a while and it was just nice to see her play well and see a smile on her face. After what happened on the last two holes it was just kind of, I was crying inside for her."

We all were. Especially when, with that over-long putting stroke hardly likely to improve at this late stage of her career, one has to wonder just how many more chances for victory are going to come Davies's way. For her, the Hall of Fame may be a tragic case of 'so near yet so far.'

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