England’s Laura Davies has confirmed to play in the €165,000 Ladies Irish Open, held at Killarney Golf and Fishing Club near Kerry from June 13-15 and will aim to consolidate her position at the top of the Ladies European Tour order of merit.

The 39-year-old from Ottershaw leads to order of merit with 401.50 points after starting the year in style with her 65th career victory at the ANZ Ladies Masters in Australia. The following week, Davies finished runner up to Scotland’s Mhairi McKay at the AAMI Australian Women’s Open.

Davies, twice a winner of the Irish Open title, is almost assured of her spot in Europe’s Solheim Cup team in September and will be gunning for her first order of merit victory since 1999, where she won it for a record fifth time.

Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson, also a two-time winner of the Irish Open has confirmed to play, returning to the Europe in search of valuable Solheim Cup points. The 28-year-old from Saro last won the Irish Open in 2000 and went on to win the order of merit, taking the title from Davies.