TWO-TIME defending champion Laura Davies mastered one of Japan's toughest courses with a 17-under-par total to finish with a six-under 66 yesterday and win the Itoen Ladies by a record 15-strokes.
The British star said: "I'm happy, very happy indeed, and "I enjoyed the round today. Obviously, I had a big lead but I had to be sensible and then I could enjoy the back nine."
Her ninth victory this season, with a 199 total, earned her over £60,000. "This course is suitable for my game because I can use a driver on many holes.
"It's an advantage for long hitters to play on long courses. I thought I should shoot a low score to make it interesting for the spectators. I set my goal at 65 but ended up with 66."
In winning her second Japanese title this season, and fifth overall, Davies rewrote two records - beating Helen Alfredsson's 54-hole total of 16-under 200 set in 1992 and Hisako `Chako' Higuchi's 11-shot victory margin in 1973.
South Korea won the Women's World Amateur Golf Team Championship by two shots yesterday to become the first Asian country to win the biennial tournament since it began in 1964.
Britain finished in joint-fourth with Spain, behind runners-up Italy and third-placed defending champions US in the rain-shortened competition for the Espiritu Santo Trophy.
The cold, rainy conditions brought a warm glow to Scottish golfer Catriona Matthew in Melbourne, Australia, yesterday as she toppled an international field to win the $300,000 ($237,000 US) Australian Women's Open at Yarra Yarra.
Matthew (27) surged to victory with a flawless four-under-par 69 final round to capture her first professional win. She banked $45,000 for her three-shot win from Australian star Karrie Webb, while the defending champion, Sweden's Liselotte Neumann, was third.
Matthew finished nine-under-par after rounds of 72, 74, 68, 69, while Webb shot her best round of the tournament, a three-under 70, to collect $30,000.
"I'm used to playing in these conditions, being brought up in Scotland," said Mathews. "The weather was to my advantage today and I knew if I could just hang in there I'd be in with a chance."
Australian Corinne Dibnah, who had led from the start and took a four-shot break into the last round, collapsed with a dismal 80 but managed to take fourth by a shot from Japan's Debbi Koyama.
