‘No pressure’ to win at home, says Matthew

SOLHEIM CUP: Scot will captain Europe at Gleneagles ‘well aware’ of past victories

When it comes to playing in the Solheim Cup, Catriona Matthew has experienced pretty much every emotion possible.

There were the nerves and anticipation of her debut in 1998, when experienced partner Annika Sorenstam handed her rookie team-mate the somewhat dubious honour of hitting the opening shot of their foursomes match on the opening morning, a match they went on to win.

The high of that victory was replaced two days later by the low of losing to Sherri Steinhauer in the decisive singles contest, while Matthew was then overlooked for the next two contests by Europe captain Dale Reid, despite her fellow Scot having five wild cards at her disposal in 2000 and four in 2002.

Those setbacks made Matthew’s second appearance, and first victory, all the sweeter in Sweden in 2003, especially as she secured the winning point at Barseback with a singles victory over Rosie Jones.

In total Matthew has played in the biennial contest nine times and won 22 points, with only her vice-captain Laura Davies (25) and Sorenstam (24) having contributed more to the European cause. In four of her last six appearances, Matthew won 75% of her matches.

But when it comes to this year’s clash at Gleneagles, even the experienced 50-year-old finds herself in uncharted territory as the woman charged with captaining Europe to a first win since 2013 and a third on Scottish soil.

“Absolutely, definitely, that’s our goal,” Matthew said after completing her team by naming Suzann Pettersen, Bronte Law, Celine Boutier and Jodi Ewart Shadoff as her four wild cards.

“We don’t want them winning three in a row. I’m well aware that there were home victories the last two times it was held in Scotland. Hopefully that’s going to be a lucky omen. No pressure!”

Matthew’s wild card selections will certainly come under renewed scrutiny if Europe lose, Pettersen being selected despite having played just twice since November 2017 before the wild cards were named, while Ewart Shadoff was also picked even though she underwent a minor back operation the week before the announcement.

The bookmakers make the United States odds-on favourites. They are rarely wrong but four of Europe’s five victories have come at home and a repeat of 2014’s Ryder Cup triumph at the same venue cannot be ruled out.