Call to Solheim Cup duty
Scotland’s Matthew made for moment
GLENEAGLES, Scotland – It’s about 80 miles from North Berwick Golf Club to Gleneagles Hotel, westbound around the Firth of Forth. If Catriona Matthew wasn’t leading a team during the most hectic week in golf, she could actually sleep in her own bed.
That’s how much of a home game the Solheim Cup is this week for Matthew, a 50-yearold stalwart of Scottish golf. Matthew boasts an 18-11-8 Solheim Cup record, four LPGA titles (including a major) and 104 top-10 finishes.
How much would a European victory this weekend mean to Matthew?
“Some of my best moments have been in the Solheim,” she said, “and I think to be a winning captain at Gleneagles in Scotland would rank just about above my British Open win.”
Strong words from a woman who won the 2009 Women’s British at Royal Lytham 11 weeks after giving birth to second daughter Sophia Lauren.
This week’s Solheim Cup is a battle between the supermoms. Matthew and U.S. captain Juli Inkster are two of the best you-can-have-it-all examples in professional golf, though Matthew, known by friends as “Beany,” has done most of her work outside the spotlight.
Players rave about Matthew’s calm presence. Her goal is to keep the European team as loose as possible going up against an American team that’s better on paper. But don’t let Matthew’s unassuming, nononsense personality fool you: She’s here to win. And she’s canny too.
“She’s a fierce competitor,” said vice captain Laura Davies, “make no mistake about that. She wants to win this more than any of us.”
Sam Torrance never won a major but can understand Matthew’s comments about where a Solheim Cup victory would rank, calling team captaincy the greatest honor in golf.
“It’s just more than anything,” said Torrance. “It’s the honor of being asked to be captain. It took me a long time to get on the team. And when you’re in the team, you want to be on every other team until the end of time. The captaincy was the ultimate position, which I never thought would come to me.”
Torrance, of course, led the Europeans to victory at the Belfry in 2002.
This is Matthew’s time. She’ll make the auld country proud.