Global Golf Post - August 22, 2011

EAST LOTHIAN, SCOTLAND | Catriona Matthew, 42 next week, ran away with the Aberdeen Scottish Ladies’ Open at Archerfield when she added a 66 to opening scores of 70 and 65 for a winning tally which was 15-under par. Hannah Jun, from California, finished 10 shots back but with her smile still intact.

Matthew, who won the 2009 Ricoh Women’s British Open at Lytham, has now captured eight titles around the world. But it was this one, so near home as to be at a club where she was made an honorary member after her British Open triumph, that she felt the most pressure.

Firstly, there was the pressure of wanting to do well in front of a crowd which seemed to double every time she made one of her eight birdies over the sunlit afternoon. Secondly, there was the strange sensation of being as many as eight shots clear after her outward 31.

“I looked at the board and thought to myself, ‘What happens if I blow it from here,’ ” she admitted.

Such a thought certainly did not occur to anyone else, for Matthew enjoys the on-course calm where no one has ever been able to tell if she is on her way to a 65 or a 75.

In the event, Matthew decided to concentrate on playing one shot at a time on the homeward half – and to add to her haul of birdies. Her win, worth £ 29,000, was very much a family affair. As usual, she had her husband, Graeme, on the bag, while the couple’s two young daughters, Katie and Sophie, were there at the finish. As, indeed, were Catriona’s parents, with nothing pleasing the winner more than the fact that her father, Michael, who is not in the best of health, was able to watch her signing off with a 15-foot birdie putt on the home green.

Matthew paid tribute to Kevin Craggs, her coach, who has spent the last couple of years encouraging a slower backswing, one which gives her time to get into the optimum position at the top.

This week, she is heading for Canada for the CN Canadian Women’s Open.

Having won each of her last four singles in a Solheim Cup context, this reliable citizen could well be Alison Nicholas’ choice to lead the way in the closing series at Killeen Castle. She may not make quite the same waves as a Laura Davies but everyone is in awe of the way she plays.