Women's golf is stronger than it has ever been, according to former European number one Laura Davies. The 44-year-old has been a professional for 22 years but she has not seen the strength and depth of talent which is currently on the circuit.

"There is no comparison," said the four-time major winner, ahead of the MFS Women's Australian Open at Kingston Heath Golf Club in Melbourne which starts today.

"You would turn up a tournament and know that there were only 10 or 15 players who had a chance of winning.

"Now, on any given week, anywhere, there are your Lorenas (Ochoa, the current world number one), your Annikas (Sorenstam, former number one) who have dominated and won huge amounts of tournaments but other than that, anyone who turns up has a very good chance of winning."

This week Davies tackles a field which includes Australian Karrie Webb, the defending champion, Europe's number two and three golfers Bettina Hauert (Germany) and Gwladys Nocera (France) and South Korea's 19-year-old world number seven Ji Yai-Shin, who won an astonishing 10 titles on the KLPGA last year. There are 21 different countries represented and Paul McNamee, executive chairman of the Australian Open, was delighted with the strength of the field assembled in Melbourne.

"There is an inspiring amount of talent on show. The players in this world class field boast a combined 13 majors between them, including seven from our own Karrie Webb," he said.

The quality of the course and the fact it is the tour's opening event are two of the reasons for the strength of the field. Davies, was impressed with the lay-out, saying: "I'm trying to think of the courses I would prefer to play. The ones I come up with are St Andrews and Royal Lytham."