Five time Ladies European Tour (LET) winner Lee-Anne Pace has set her sights on becoming the number one female golfer in the world.

“One of my goals is to be world number one,” she said after her pro-am round in the Gary Player Invitational at the Links on Friday.

“If I won five times in America I’d be number one in the world already, but that’s my point: If I want to get to the top I have to win in the [United States].”

LET events carry fewer ranking points than US events, and these points also depend on the quality of the field.

With most of the top 10 women in the world sticking to tournaments in the US, tournaments in Europe have far fewer points available.

“To become world number one, you have to win in America, which probably won’t happen next year because I’m relying on invites, but the goal for now would be to win a tournament there which would mean I would retain my exemption on the US LPGA tour,” she said.

Pace started out the 2010 season ranked 230th in the world and is now ranked 58th.

“It’s been an incredible year,” she said.

She had had to choose between going to the LPGA qualifying school and trying to finish on top of the LET order of merit ahead of Laura Davies who is in second place just 32,000 Euros behind going into the final event of the season.

“I’ve had some tough decisions to make, and I’ve decided to try for the order of merit and to play in Dubai,” she said.

Pace had not won on the LET before this season, but every part of her game has come together in the past year.

“Firstly, to get the win made a big difference. Once you’ve done it once it makes the second and third win a lot easier,” she said.

“It’s about the belief you get when you’re in a position to win and you get the job done. Handling the nerves was a a big thing. Last year I was in the position to win a few times but couldn’t do it.”

Pace was happy to be back in South Africa and she was looking forward to having her family watch her play.

The Gary Player invitational opens to the public over the weekend with a 36 hole competition combining regular tour professionals and senior tour professionals in a betterball format.