Dinah Shore Presents the Last Major Hurdle for Laura Davies

RANCHO MIRAGE —  So just how far can Laura Davies hit a golf ball?

She may be the only player in the field at the Nabisco Dinah Shore who can reach the 526-yard 18th at Mission Hills Country Club in two shots, but Davies probably can do it using a driver and the bottom of her shoe.

The $900,000 event is the year’s first major on the LPGA Tour, and when it begins today on the 6,460-yard layout, Davis will try to pound it into submission and make a little history at the same time.

Last week in Phoenix, Davies won the Standard Register Ping for the fourth year in a row, which means, well, what? If nothing else, it proves there is now something else you can count on in Arizona besides cactus and a sunburn.

But this week, Davies has a crack at something really big. If she wins, Davies can join Pat Bradley as the only player to win all four of the women’s modern majors.

Davies, 33, won the 1987 U.S. Open before she was an LPGA member and has since claimed the McDonald’s LPGA Championship twice and the du Maurier Classic. That leaves only the Dinah Shore, where Davies has come close but hasn’t been able to close the deal.

When Donna Andrews won in 1994, Davies was second. In 1995, Davies shot 73 on Sunday and finished tied for third as Nanci Bowen won. And in 1996, Davies was two behind on Sunday, but closed with another 73 and fell to a tie for 15th.

However Mission Hills has treated Davies, she holds no grudge. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

“This is my favorite golf course in the world,” Davies said. “I’ve done well here, even if I haven’t won. If I can only win one tournament this year, this would be the one.”

It’s a moot point, since she has already won, but chances are it’s going to be a challenge. The field of 126 features 21 of the top 25 on the money list as well as the three hottest players on the tour--Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb and Kelly Robbins.

Sorenstam is the only two-time winner this year and leads the money list, but even after finishing 51st last week at Phoenix, she feels upbeat and confident.

Davies defeated Robbins in a sudden-death playoff last week when she made a four-foot putt, using a new putter she had stuck in her bag four weeks ago in Hawaii.

But it’s those occasions when Davies pulls out her driver with the titanium clubhead and the 43 1/2-inch shaft that set her apart.

Davies once drove the ball 354 yards in Hawaii, but she said the conditions were right for such a distance.

“Oh, it was downhill, downwind and downgrain,” she said.

Meanwhile, the rough is up, way up, at Mission Hills, which means that big hitters like Davies, Robbins and Michelle McGann are going to have to be extra careful to keep the ball in the fairway.

Patty Sheehan, the defending champion, said she isn’t at all surprised that Davies has not yet won at Mission Hills.

“To win here, it takes a person that will keep it in play,” Sheehan said. “Even though Laura can hit it a long way, she doesn’t always keep it in play.

“She plays very aggressive golf and sometimes that’s not the best way to win major championships.

“She’s overpowering these courses. I don’t know if that can be done here. But if it can be done, she’s the one to do it.”

Webb has finished second three times and has five top 10s in five events. She is second to Sorenstam on the money list, leads in scoring average and rounds under par and is second to Robbins in greens in regulation.

Last year, Webb made her majors debut at the Dinah Shore and finished tied for fifth. This year, Webb said she is much better prepared mentally for playing in a major.

“I’m just a lot more confident,” she said. “I believe in my game so much more than I did last year. I know I can do it. It’s easier to tell yourself you can do it if you’ve done it before.”

The 22-year-old Australian won four times last year and became the first LPGA player to make $1 million in one season. And she did it without being able to outdrive Davies.

Sorenstam said the key to winning at Mission Hills is simple. You just have to drive it straight and stay out of the rough that can eat that club in your hands. That includes Davies, whose length may be an advantage.

“If you can hit it long and straight, it is,” Sorenstam said.

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Nabisco Dinah Shore Facts

* Where: Rancho Mirage.

* When: Today-Sunday.

* Course: Mission Hills Country Club (6,460 yards, par 72).

* Prize money: $900,000 total purse, $135,000 to winner.

* TV: Today and Friday, ESPN2, 2-4 p.m.; Saturday, 4:30-6 p.m., Channel 7; Sunday, 3-5 p.m., Channel 7.

* Last year: Patty Sheehan won her sixth major title, closing with a one-under 71 for a one-stroke victory over Annika Sorenstam, Kelly Robbins and Meg Mallon. Sheehan had a seven-under 281 total.

* Tickets: (619) 324-4546.