The club said in a statement on its website: “The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is delighted to announce that Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal, Renee Powell, Belle Robertson MBE, Lally Segard, Annika Sorenstam and Louise Suggs have accepted invitations to become honorary members of the club.”
Davies, England’s greatest woman player, was awarded her damehood in the Queen’s 2014 birthday honours, and the 51-year-old four-times major winner remains an active player in the professional game, seeking to add to her 79 tour titles.
Powell, 68, is an African-American former LPGA tour player who since her playing days has encouraged development in junior golf, particularly with inner-city youngsters. She was named the PGA of America’s First Lady of Golf in 2003.
The Scottish amateur Robertson, born in 1936, played on seven Curtis Cup teams for Great Britain and Ireland, and captained the side twice, while Frenchwoman Segard won 14 titles including the British Ladies’ Amateur in 1950 before becoming president of the World Amateur Golf Council, now known as the International Golf Federation.
Sorenstam, from Sweden, retired in 2008 after a hugely successful career which saw the 44-year-old land 10 majors and play in eight Solheim Cup teams.
The American Suggs won 11 majors between 1946 and 1959. Now 91, she is a former president of the Ladies Professional Golf Association, of which she was a co-founder.