Davies, Laura (1963-…), an English golf star, is one of the most powerful players and longest drivers in golf. Davies has won four major golf titles during her career. She won the United States Women’s Open in 1987; the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Championship (now known as the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship) in 1994 and 1996; and the du Maurier Classic in 1996. The Du Maurier Classic was replaced by the Women’s British Open as a women’s major in 2001. The other women’s majors are the Chevron Championship (formerly called the ANA Inspiration) and the Evian Championship. Davies also has won tournaments in Asia, Australia, and Europe.
Davies was born on Oct. 5, 1963, in Coventry, England. As an amateur, she won the Surrey Junior Championship in 1982. She won the 1983 English Intermediate Championship, the 1984 Welsh Open Stroke Play Championship, and the 1983 and 1984 South Eastern Championships. She was a member of the United Kingdom and Ireland Curtis Cup team in 1984. In the Curtis Cup, held every two years, a team of amateur women golfers from the United Kingdom and Ireland competes against a team from the United States.
Davies turned professional in 1985. That year she won the Belgian Open. Davies’s score of 25 strokes below par in the 1995 Guardian Irish Holidays Open was the lowest score for a 72-hole tournament in the history of women’s professional golf. Davies won the Standard Register Ping tournament in the United States each year from 1994 to 1997, becoming the first woman golfer to win the event four consecutive times. Davies was named the LPGA Player of the Year in 1996. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2015.
In 1998, Davies created the Laura Davies Productions, a company that organizes women’s golf competitions. Queen Elizabeth II made her a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2000.
