DUNSANY, Ireland – Laura Davies became the Solheim Cup’s all-time points leader with a fourball victory on Saturday at Killeen Castle, but she wanted something more.
And now, with the announcement of Sunday’s singles pairings, she has it. Davies will get the singles matchup she wanted, against U.S. veteran Juli Inkster.
“Juli and I have never played singles against each other,” Davies said before the pairings were announced. “So I’ve told her to go in the No. 4 slot, and I’ve told Ali (European captain Alison Nicholas) I want to go No. 4, so we’ll see what happens.”
That is exactly what did happen. Davies, 47, and Inkster, 51, will go out in Sunday’s fourth match.
Davies has played in more Solheim Cups than any other player (12). Inkster has played in more than any other American (9).
Teaming with fellow Englishwoman Melissa Reid on Saturday, Davies gained one point for their 4-and-3 victory against Michelle Wie and Brittany Lang. It gave Davies 24½ points in her Solheim Cup career, surpassing Annika’s Sorenstam’s 24 as the record.
The victory improved Davies’ overall record in the competition to 22-18-5.
“Obviously, the more you play in it, the more points you should have,” Davies said. “So as I’ve played in all of them, if I didn’t have the most points, it would be a bit embarrassing. It’s nice to finally get past Annika, who obviously has a spectacular record, and it’s nice to have done it before the singles. Now I can go out there and not worry about, ‘Oh, I want to beat the record because I might never be here again.’ So, at least I’ve done it and gotten it out of the way.”
