Laura Davies was recognised with the Media Appreciation Award

Britain's greatest ever woman golfer Laura Davies was honoured with the Media Appreciation Award at the third-annual LPGA Global Media Awards Presented by Rolex. The ceremony, hosted by the Evian Masters at the Hotel Ermitage, also recognised three writers and three photographers for their creativity, passion and innovation in covering women’s golf.

“The press can be your friends or they can be your enemy, so I’ve always been honest,” said Davies. “Honesty is the best policy and I think they’ve appreciated that, quite clearly by this award. If you don’t give anything of yourself, they’ll look for something else. If you tell it like it is, everyone is happy.”

Davies, a 20-year veteran of the LPGA Tour who has 20 career LPGA wins and 81 victories worldwide, was chosen for the honour by a select panel of prominent journalists who cover the LPGA Tour based on her excellence in working cohesively with the media on a regular basis.

“Laura Davies can fill a reporter's notebook in a three-minute chat,” said Beth Ann Baldry of Golfweek Magazine. “She doesn't shy away from controversial subjects and her humor lights up a column. It's obvious why reporters scramble to get a seat when she walks into the interview room. If only she would Tweet more.”

Global Golf Post senior European correspondent Lewine Mair, who has covered golf for more than 40 years, was selected as the recipient of the Rolex Media Excellence Award. The award is given to a member of the media for his or her long-time achievement in media coverage of women’s professional golf. Mair was also presented with a Rolex timepiece.

Two separate three-person, international voting panels, one made up of distinguished journalists from the GWAA (Golf Writers Association of America) and the other of distinguished photographers, were chosen to vote on the three writing categories and the four photography categories. The panels pared the submissions down to three finalists in each category and then chose the winners. Submissions were accepted for material that was published between May 24, 2011 through May 21, 2012 (the day following the 2012 Sybase Match Play Championship).

Ron Sirak of Golf World took home two of the three writing awards. His article “From Stage Fright to Stage Presence” on Sophie Gustafson’s impeccable bravery as she addressed her severe stutter took home top honours in the Feature category. He was also the winner of the Column category for his piece “Lexi’s LPGA arrival is cause for celebration—and also caution”, which profiled Lexi Thompson and the pressure of being the youngest winner on Tour. Steve DiMeglio of USA Today claimed the News category win with his piece addressing Lindsey Wright’s successful battle with depression, “Out of the doldrums, Lindsey Wright in a happy place.”