The green at the par-five third hole at Kingston Heath

She added: “It is always very special to win in Australia. I won this tournament at Royal Sydney last year. That is a world class venue. It would be just as special to win at Kingston Heath. When you win tournaments on world class courses it means more. The course here, all you want to do is keep playing because it is such a fantastic test of golf. It is a fair test and it is in great shape.”
Kingston Heath is an intricate golf course, which has been set up long for the women professionals at 6082 metres. Its greatest defences are its bunkers and Davies commented: “I don’t think really low numbers are going to win around here. It’s so well bunkered and people are going to drop shots.”
The routing and order of the golf course was set by architect Dan Soutar in the 1920s but for this year’s MFS Women’s Australian Open the course has been reordered so that the five finishing holes are all within easy reach of the clubhouse.
The short 10th hole has been replaced by the new “19th hole”, built in the spare ground behind the opening hole, while the sixth hole plays as the 18th.
Davies, who won the tournament in 2004 when it was played at Concord Golf Club in New South Wales, was in confident spirits after her victory at Oatland Hills Golf Club on Sunday.
“I am probably playing better now than I ever did,” she said, adding: “Now it is just a matter of turning top 10 finishes into wins.
“When you keep finishing top 10 and not winning, there is always that question mark that you are not a winner any more. That’s what you have to do if you want to be recognised as one of the best players.
“I’ve already got the win this year. Hopefully I can have more wins. That’s ultimately what you want to do. But I have over the last few years had a lot of top 10 finishes and a lot of chances to win, for whatever reason. I just have not quite followed through. That’s why I think Sunday was very important for my year.”
Joining Davies and Webb in the field will be European number two, Bettina Hauert from Germany, who finished joint 7th in the tournament last year. European number three Gwladys Nocera will be hoping to mount a challenge along with World number seven Ji Yai-Shin from South Korea, who was fifth in the tournament last year. The teenaged Shin won an astonishing 10 titles on the KLPGA in 2007. Japanese star Sakura Yokomine will take her place in the field along with Spain’s Paula Marti and Finland’s Minea Blomqvist, who tied for third place last year at Royal Sydney.
The MFS Women’s Australian Open takes place from 31 January – 3rd February 2008, with television coverage on ABC.