In record-setting fashion, Dame Laura Davies claimed her second women’s senior major title of the 2018 season on Wednesday with a wire-to-wire win at the Senior LPGA Championship presented by Old National Bank.

The sun was shining in French Lick, Ind., but with wind gusts up to 25mph the Pete Dye Course proved to be challenging for the field. Only four players finished at even or better and only the champion, Davies, carded three under-par rounds, making her victory even more impressive.

Davies birdied the 18th to post a new 54-hole tournament record (208) and put a ribbon on the four-stroke victory over major champion Helen Alfredsson and LPGA winner Silvia Cavalleri.

“This is fantastic,” Davies said. “Winning the U.S. [Senior] Women’s Open was a real thrill, and this is a golf course that I didn’t think I could win on. So for me, this is a real victory. I’ve always played okay around here, but I’ve never strung three rounds together I’ve always had one big number so this is nice.”

This is Davies’ second senior women’s major title of the season after she also won the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open conducted by the USGA in July, which means that she has completed a clean sweep of senior major championships in 2018.

LET President Helen Alfredsson gave Davies something to look at early in the final round as she went out in 32, but a double bogey on 11 put Davies in the driver’s seat where she never let up, leaving Alfredsson with a joint runner-up finish.

“She’s always been an amazing golfer,” Alfredsson said of Davies. “I think for us it’s a bit different for us who only play about twice a year. Not to take anything away from her, she is an amazing player. But it’s a little bit different when you play tournaments regularly still.”

Silvia Cavalleri, who is the only player from Italy to win on the LPGA Tour, is still active on the Symetra Tour and made her debut in senior women’s golf this week in fantastic fashion with a joint runner-up finish. She said the reason she keeps grinding is easy, “I love competing, obviously, and I’m still young-ish. I love golf: it’s as simple as that.”

IN HER WORDS – 2018 CHAMPION LAURA DAVIES

On the conditions during the final round:

“The wind made a difference, and it was still cold. It was still tough, I think 2-under today was a pretty good round.”

On the birdie on 18:

“I hit a really good 2-iron in there, I thought I just about hit the green but had to get it up and down. But when you’ve got a three-shot lead those putts tend to go in, if I had to hole that to win it might not have gone in. So, that was a little bonus.”

Does winning on the Pete Dye Course make this more special:

“It really does. You feel like you really controlled the ball. There’s some shots out there, on 16 I nearly hit a horrible 7-iron into the water, but again I got lucky today when I really needed to on 11 and 16 when I didn’t hit great shots. It’s the sort of course where you’ve got to be careful, but you’ve got to be brave as well. Because you’ll make bogeys if you’re trying to play it safe.”

PLAYER NOTES

Laura Davies (Coventry, England) (1st, -8)

  • Member of the World Golf Hall of Fame (class of 2015)
  • This is Davies 86th professional win worldwide
  • Has 20 career LPGA wins, including four major championships
  • Has 45 career wins on the Ladies European Tour
  • Won the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open conducted by the USGA in July
  • Finished T3 at the inaugural Senior LPGA Championship in 2017
  • Davies is still active on the LPGA Tour, with seven made cuts in 15 starts during the 2018 season including a runner-up finish at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup in March
  • Davies is also active on the Ladies European Tour, with four cuts made from seven starts in 2018, including a season-best finish of 16th in the Australian Ladies Classic Bonville. She also partnered Georgia Hall in this year’s European Golf Team Championships.
  • On the Legends Tour in 2018, Davies teamed up with Trish Johnson to win the BJ’s Charity Championship

 

Helen Alfredsson (Goteborg, Sweden) (T2, -4)​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

  • Alfredsson is a seven-time LPGA Tour winner with one major championship title
  • She has 11 career wins on the Ladies European Tour
  • Finished T3 at the inaugural Senior LPGA Championship in 2017
  • Finished T6 at the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open conducted by the USGA in July
  • Played on the LPGA Tour from 1992-2013

Silvia Cavalleri (Milano, Italy) (T2, -4)

  • Has one win on both the LPGA and Ladies European Tour
  • Cavalleri is the only player from Italy to win on the LPGA Tour
  • Played on the LPGA Tour from 1999-2014
  • Won the 1997 U.S. Women’s Amateur
  • Cavalleri turned 46 on Oct. 10, 2018 and this is her first year eligible to compete in the senior women’s major championship
  • Cavalleri is still active on the Symetra Tour, in 2018 she made nine starts with two top-five finishes

Michele Redman (Minneapolis, Minn.) (4th, -1)

  • Redman is in her eighth season as the women’s golf coach at the University of Minnesota
  • She played on the LPGA Tour from 1992-2011 with two wins
  • Was a four-time member of the U.S. Solheim Cup team
  • Redman was a four-time All-American at Indiana University and is a member of the IU Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame
  • Finished T19 at the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open conducted by the USGA in July
  • Was the runner-up at the inaugural Senior LPGA Championship in 2017
  • Redman has two victories on the Legends Tour: 2011 Legends Tour Open Championship and 2013 Walgreens Charity Classic

Brandie Burton (La Verne, Calif.) (5th, +1)

  • Won five LPGA titles, including two major championships
  • Finished T39 at the inaugural Senior LPGA Championship in 2017
  • Was a five-time member of the U.S. Solheim Cup team (1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000)
  • Burton was the 1989 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion
  • Burton was the LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 1991
  • Burton is the assistant softball coach at Aquinas High School in San Bernardino, Calif.