LORA Fairclough today began her assault on the LPGA Welsh Open at St Pierre with a birdie on the third hole.

And despite another on the seventh, Lora was one off the pace set by Caroline Hall on one under, after bogeying the 10th and 12th.

The Chorley golfer holed a splendid putt on the par-three third to move to one-under.

Fairclough is currently third in the Solheim Cup rankings and a good finish in St Pierre, the opening event of the season, will boost her prospects of automatic selection for the 1996 team.

Lora missed the cut here last year, however. It was the only time last season that she did.

St Pierre hosts the Solheim Cup later this season, so Lora is determined to make amends.

And with some of the world's top stars such as Laura Davies and Annika Sorenstam competing for £800,000 in America, Fairclough hopes to seize the chance to go top of the qualifying table.

"A good tournament here this week will launch my season perfectly," said the 26-year-old from Chorley who stayed at home during the winter rather than play tournaments internationally.

"I didn't play well last year at St Pierre but I'm swinging well at the moment and I'm confident.

"A good finish could push me up the Solheim Cup rankings.

"I want to guarantee my place in Mickey Walker's team as soon as possible.

"Maybe on paper the Americans have more strength in depth, but the same has been said about the Ryder Cup teams for so long and look what's happened there.

"Match-play is so different. It's about who has the bottle and desire."

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