Davies Looks Sharp With 67

So this is what the edge of the cup looks like, Laura Davies thought before sinking another birdie putt.

Look at my club’s razor edge sitting so cleanly next to the ball, she marveled before striking another deft chip shot.

Less than 24 hours after undergoing laser surgery on her eyes, Davies fired a 67 and took a one-stroke lead after the first round of the 54-hole L.A Women’s Championship on Friday at Wood Ranch Golf Club in Simi Valley.

The procedure was done on an impulse by the British-born Davies, who has won 17 LPGA tournaments and 58 international events with eyesight so poor she was loath to describe it.

“It was just rubbish, that’s all I know,” she said.

One of her pro-am partners suggested laser surgery Wednesday, and Dave Foster, general manager at Wood Ranch, made an appointment for her with a Brea doctor.

“I took a conscious risk,” she said. “It does seem a bit strange. I took a chance and it paid off.”

Davies, 36, fell asleep after the surgery Thursday unsure whether she would be able to play in the morning. She awoke and gingerly opened her eyes.

“I could see right as rain,” she said.

Wearing sunglasses to help keep her eyes moist, Davies hit only 13 greens in regulation but chipped so well she needed only 26 putts.

Four of her five birdies were the result of chips. Davies chipped to within two feet on the second hole and chipped in from 35 feet on No. 4. She knocked a short chip to within three feet on the par-five sixth hole and hit a sand wedge within two feet on the par-four 11th. She had no bogeys.

Amazing what a good look at the pin will do.

“In the past, the ball was just a haze,” she said. “I literally couldn’t see the edges of the hole.”

Davies did not win an LPGA tournament last year for the first time since 1992. She had to admit her prospects are significantly brighter.

“I wore glasses for years, then tried contact lenses for a while and didn’t like them,” she said. “Finally I just asked my caddie where my ball went.”

Laura Philo, Janice Moodie and Moira Dunn trail Davies by one stroke. Moodie was five under until a poor shot out of the rough on the ninth hole, her last, resulted in a bogey.

Six players shot 69, including Brandie Burton of Rialto, who missed all of last year because of two shoulder surgeries.

The intense Burton is well-known for putting in an honest day’s work. So when the leaderboard had her at four under after her round, she was quick with a correction.

“I was three under,” she said. “The board’s wrong.”

Twenty-four players broke par on an overcast day with little wind. Besides complaints that the bunkers are overfilled--”It’s plug city,” Dottie Pepper said--players enjoyed the 6,222-yard links-style course.

Especially Davies.

“The course is set up well for long hitters,” she said.

It’s not bad for players who see well, either.

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The Leaders

18-Hole Scores, Par 72

Laura Davies: 33-34--67 -5

Laura Philo: 34-34--68 -4

Janice Moodie: 35-33--68 -4

Moira Dunn: 32-36--68 -4

Sherri Steinhauer: 35-34--69 -3

Brandie Burton: 35-34--69 -3

Tina Barrett: 34-35--69 -3

Suzanne Strudwick: 34-35--69 -3

Mi Hyun Kim: 35-34--69 -3

Jen Hanna: 33-36--69 -3

* COMPLETE SCORES, PAGE 10