Matthew on mission to make Solheim Cup history
CATRIONA MATTHEW is aiming to make history after it was confirmed she will once again lead Europe’s Solheim Cup team into battle in America in two years’ time. The Scot guided her side to victory over the United States just two months ago and will now aim to become the first European skipper to secure home-and-away victories. Suzann Pettersen — the hero of this year’s event at Gleneagles when she clinched a dramatic win by sinking the final putt of the weekend — will assist
Matthew alongside fellow vice-captains Laura Davies and Kathryn Imrie. Team Europe’s only previous triumph across the Atlantic came in 2013 and Matthew — a veteran of nine Solheim Cups as a player — knows the size of the task awaiting her team at the Inverness Golf Club in Toledo, Ohio, in 2021. The 50-year-old from North Berwick — back at the
Perthshire scene of this year’s victory for the announcement of her reappointment yesterday — said: ‘I’m thrilled to have the chance to do it again. ‘I really enjoyed Gleneagles with the dream finish we had and I’m now relishing the chance to go to the Unites States and defend the cup in 2021. ‘I probably thought about it for about three or four weeks afterwards. ‘You couldn’t top the week here at Gleneagles in front of the home fans, being so close to my own home and the way it obviously finished. It was pretty amazing. But the chance to go to America and do something that’s never been done, winning home and away back-to-back, is a challenge I’m really looking forward to. ‘It’s nice to do something that has not been done before. ‘The core of the team will probably be the same again, while obviously there will always be new faces coming in. We’ve got a good group of players and we’ve got every chance of winning it in the States.’