The swingin’ 60s? Well, maybe not quite.
“I’m not enjoying playing at all,” sighed Dame Laura Davies with a self-deprecating chuckle as she mulled over the state of her game at 60-years-young.
The 2024 AIG Women’s Open at St. Andrews could provide a wonderful swansong for this decorated, celebrated champion but Davies herself won’t allow sentiment, and the prospect of a dewy-eyed, visor-doffing last hurrah over the Swilcan Bridge, to cloud her judgement.
“Next year will be the final one of my exemption, but at the moment I don’t think I can tee up,” reflected Davies, who was the guest of honour at the PGA in Scotland’s annual glass-clinking luncheon in Glasgow on Wednesday.
“I’m playing in a few senior events before then and if I show any signs of encouragement at all then I might play. But I don’t want to take someone’s spot. It would be lovely to walk over the bridge on the 18th but not at 35-over-par. It won’t be as much fun.”
About those who left for LIV
It’s all fun and games, meanwhile, in the wider world of golf at the moment. Jon Rahm’s colossal deal with LIV Golf – yes, you can roll your eyes again – has had the kind of earth-shattering impact you’d get with a nuclear weapons test.
So, what does this grande dame of the stick and ba’ game make of the current situation?
“It just goes to show that everyone has their price,” she said. “The trouble is for these players going to LIV is that there are guys going to fill their boots who are very good players. We’ve already got Ludvig Aberg coming through, another superstar in the making.
“And look at Cam Smith? Would anyone actually know how he is doing with LIV and that he was the Open champion before he went? Nobody really knows how he plays any more.
“Don’t get me wrong. If anyone offered me that kind of money, I’d be there. I’m not criticizing them, but they are easily replaced. Maybe people won’t think about Jon Rahm eventually?”
As for Davies actually sitting down and watching any of LIV Golf’s 54-hole product? She’d probably be more interested in gazing at a bucket of soot.
“I’m not interested in the three rounds or the shotgun start,” she added. “As a sports fan, I like 72-hole championship golf where you finish on the 18th, not the fifth. LIV is not for me.”
Davies was making hay in a different financial era.
Laura Davies and John Daly at the 1998 JC Penney Classic in Westin Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor,…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golfweek…