Television Educational to Davies, Whose Putting Wood Brings Eagle

Laura Davies said she learned the shot by watching it on television a couple of months ago, and it helped her tie Anne-Marie Palli for the lead after the second round of the $400,000 ShopRite LPGA Classic at Somers Point, N.J., on Saturday.

A putt with a three-wood from just beyond the fringe of the green, 12 feet from the hole?

Davies used the shot for an eagle in fashioning a four-under-par 67 and a 36-hole total of four-under-par 138.

“I think it was Davis Love (she was watching on TV), I don’t know,� Davies said. “But the next week I practiced it at Las Vegas and I tried it.�

On the par-five, 435-yard eighth hole, Davies hit a three-iron over the green, and the ball came to rest 12 feet behind the pin, in a fluffy lie. A foot of grass remained to the fringe, and then there were two feet of fringe and nine feet of green to the hole.

Davies putted with her three-wood. The eagle got her to one-under, and she followed that with a five-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole. Over the next seven holes, she saved par five times and then closed out her round with two 20-foot birdies--with her putter.