BRITAIN'S Laura Davies gave herself a timely boost for the British

Open at Woburn this week when she won the BMW Italian Open for a third

time with a closing round of 69 at Frassanelle yesterday.

It was a third victory of the season for Davies whose 14-under-par

aggregate of 274 left her five strokes clear of Sandrine Mendiburu from

France. Corinne Dibnah, the holder from Australia, and Carin Hjalmarsson

of Sweden shared third place on 280.

Dale Reid was the leading Scot when she moved into sixth place with a

70 to finish on 283, seven strokes ahead of Solheim Cup team-mate Pam

Wright who also had a final round of 70.

''I have never played golf like this in my life,'' said Davies after

completing her fourteenth tour victory. Even so the former British and

US Open winner was guarded about her chances at Woburn. ''I am looking

forward to it but I have never won back-to-back tournaments,'' she said.

For 31 rounds in Europe this year Davies is an astounding 82 under

par. Only three times has she exceeded par and her stroke average of

69.87 underlines the rising quality of scoring on the tour. In 1983,

Beverly Huke held the lowest average with 74.98. Final aggregates (GB or

Irish players unless otherwise stated):

274 -- L Davies 66, 66, 73, 69 (#16,500).

279 -- S Mendiburu (Fra) 74, 70, 65, 69 (#11,125).

280 -- C Hjalmarsson (Swe) 70, 72, 68, 70; C Dibnah (Aus) 69, 67, 73,

71 (#6,820 each).

282 -- S Gronberg (Swe) 71, 71, 71, 69.

283 -- D Reid 72, 72, 69, 70.

284 -- D Dowling 69, 71, 72, 72.

285 -- V Michaud (Fra) 69, 70, 75, 71; Li Wen-Lin (Taiwan) 72, 69, 72,

72; X Wunsch (Spain) 71, 69, 72, 73; L-A Mills (US) 70, 69, 72, 74.

286 -- L Hackney 71, 72, 73, 70; L Fairclough 70, 68, 74, 74; M Lunn

(Aus) 71, 70, 71, 74; L Maritz (SA) 68, 70, 72, 76.

287 -- F Dassu (Italy) 74,72,74,67; K Douglas 72, 73, 74, 68; K

Espinasse (Fra) 68, 75, 75, 69; A Nicholas 75, 70, 73, 69; H Wadsworth

73, 74, 69, 71. Other Scottish scores: 290 -- P Wright 78, 69, 73, 70.

294 -- J Forbes 74, 71, 76, 73. 300 -- C Panton-Lewis 77, 74, 73, 76.

301 -- G Stewart 75, 76, 78, 72 302 -- E Farquharson 77, 74, 77, 74.