Davies gunning for Daly in Australian Skins shoot-out

Golf

Laura Davies has abandoned an African hunting safari to go to Australia for what she hopes is bigger game - three of the world's best male players - in a Skins shoot-out.

Her inclusion as the first woman player in the Australian Skins' eight- year history has created great interest because of her ability to drive the ball long distances, setting the scene for an interesting comparison with John Daly's power off the tee.

Daly, Tom Watson and the 1995 Australian Skins champion, Peter Senior, are the other competitors in the two-day event that begins on Saturday over the 7,320-yard par-72 Pines course at the Sanctuary Cove resort on the Gold Coast.

Davies was the first golfer to win on all five women's circuits in the same calender year. Recent statistics have shown that she hits her drives further than at least 100 of her male counterparts on the USPGA tour.

Daly is the 7-4 favourite with the local CentreBet betting agency, who have Watson and Senior at 2-1 and Davies at the surprisingly generous odds of 10-1. "We haven't written her off," Gerard Daffy, of CentreBet, said. "But it's a pretty big job for her to play off the same tees as the men and we'll take the risk."