Majlis course suits Davies to a tee

Dubai: Laura Davies has warned her Dubai Ladies Masters rivals she is enjoying her time at the Emirates Golf Club. The Englishwoman finished tied second on five-under-par 67 with compatriot Lisa Hall after round one, three shots adrift of a Swede.

No, it's not defending champion Annika Sorenstam. The former world No 1 is currently placed tied fifth in a group of seven, but countrywoman Louise Stahle sits atop the leaderboard having finished with a superb eight-under 64. Davies, however, is confident she can overcome the deficit as the course suits her style.

"I love the course; I enjoyed it in the pro-am, but you can never really quite tell in a pro-am because you're just hitting drivers and mucking about," said Davies, who has 67 professional wins under belt.

"The course suits my game nicely. A lot of irons off the tees and you can't hit the driver everywhere. It's challenging because you have to find your way around."

Davies started off with a birdie, but a bogey on the second took her back to par. An eagle on the third put her on two-under, but the five pars and a bogey that followed saw her make the turn at one-under. The back nine reflected a different Davies and five birdies as against one bogey saw her finish the day at 67.

The 44-year-old, a record seven-time Ladies European Tour Order of Merit winner, was pleased with her putting on the opening day, which included a 15 footer on the 16th.

She said: "I hit and putt really well. I left a couple of really good chances out there that I could have holed, but I had seven decent ones and overall the putting was quite solid. I suppose the 16th would have been the longest.

"Putting is the key to golf, even if you play badly you can hole some and play well. My chipping wasn't great, but this grass is tricky to get any check on at all and the bogeys were unnecessary, because I hit bad chips."

Sorenstam's group finished on two-under 70, but Davies is more worried about the form of another Swede — Sophie Gustafson, who is a shot behind her on four-under alongside Dane Lisa Holm Sorensen.

"I've got to keep my game up because Sophie is off to a flier and at one point she was three-under after four," Davies said.

"If we shoot four or five under every day, we will probably win, but if we shoot anything less the chances are, if the weather stays like this, which is lovely, it won't be enough."