Dame Laura Davies

Danielle Kang and Georgia Hall have each paid tribute to Dame Laura Davies as the 1986 Champion prepares to hit the first tee shot of the 2020 AIG Women’s British Open.

Davies, who triumphed at Royal Birkdale 34 years ago, is making her 40th appearance in the Championship this week.

“Dame Laura Davies is a legend, an absolute legend, and she’s a role model in how she approaches the game,” said world number two Kang.

“How she plays the game is different, her style of golf is different, and she’s so strong in how she plays her game, yet so different and it’s so graceful.

“For her to be able to play this Championship for 40 appearances, that is amazing. It tells you that you can do it for a long time, and golf gives us that.

“Any time she plays, I still watch from across the fairway. She’s our rock.”

Hall, who followed in the footsteps of Davies by becoming an English Champion at the AIG Women’s Open in 2018, also had nothing but praise for the seven-time winner of the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit.

“She’s a great friend, a great person and a great idol to look up to,” said Hall, before adding with a laugh: “I actually texted her last night saying: ‘Oh, look at you hitting the first tee shot, don’t hold us up!’

“She’s great fun and obviously she still loves playing the game. It’s amazing. I pulled up to the car park and you have your 2018 Champion (spot), so I have my space and I look down and it’s Laura, 1986. I had a joke with her that I was born 10 years later than that, and she found that funny.

“She’s a really lovely person and I love being on tour with her.”

Davies will tee off at 6:30am local time on Thursday, alongside Canada’s Alena Sharp and Northern Irish amateur Olivia Mehaffey.