LAURA DAVIES SAYS YOUNG PROS WILL BOOST POPULARITY OF WOMEN'S GOLF'

 FROM THE KHALEEJ TIMES
By ALEX LEACH

Women’s golf is in great shape ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics with a trio of talented teenagers spearheading the sport towards Brazil and beyond, according to Laura Davies (pictured).
England’s Charley Hull (17), Lydia Ko (16), of New Zealand, and the USA’s Alexis ‘Lexi’ Thompson (18) are all already prominent figures in the game well before their 21^st birthdays.
Their collective emergence represents a seismic switch from when Davies was coming through the ranks in the mid-1980s, with the challengers nowadays seemingly getting younger and younger over time.
“When I turned pro, I was 21 and that was considered a bit daring in those days,” explained Davies, who is competing at the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters here this week.
“But now — at 15 and 16 — they are out there on Tour and they are not just competing and making up the numbers, they are winning events.
“Lydia winning the Canadian Open back-to-back is ridiculous. She’s going to be a huge star. She already is, but – when she goes full-time on the LPGA — she’s going to be huge and Charley as well.
“Women’s golf is in a really good state. The sponsors are excited to see these young girls, especially when you see Lexi play a really aggressive, long-ball hitting game and people are now excited to watch women play golf again.
“You’ve gone from the short-hitting side to where the girls are hitting it longer now. That’s really what the sponsors want to see in their pro-ams. They want to have people out there playing a really dynamic form of golf. It’s perfect timing with these youngsters coming through.
“The Rio Olympics is going to be a great competition. You’ve got lots of good, young Americans, the South Koreans will have a good team and the Taiwanese are coming through.
“Every country is coming through with really good young players, so it will be a spectacle. People are going to watch it.”
alex@khaleejtimes.com