Former champion Catriona Matthew announced that she will play in her final AIG Women’s Open on the Old Course at St Andrews this week.
Marking her 31st appearance in the major championship, the 2009 champion will wave goodbye to her home fans in the home of golf with her husband, Graeme, as her caddie.
Her stated goal is to make the cut, largely so that her teenage daughters, who return to school on Thursday, can watch her play over the weekend.
At 54, Matthew is eligible to play in the AIG Women’s Open until she’s 59, but has decided that she doesn’t want to play if she’s not competitive. She will turn 55 on Sunday.
“I have no illusion. I’m not going to be winning the event, but I think a goal for me this week would be to try and make the cut. You don’t want to come and keep playing in the event when you’re not competitive. It just felt being in St Andrews, in Scotland, the Home of Golf, what better place to play my last one,” she said.
When asked if she will make an emotional farewell on the Swilcan Bridge, she added: “I don’t know about that; I’m still kind of competitive.
“I think probably in a way, it will be a little bit of a mixture of relief, knowing myself that this will be the last one I’m going to play in. Obviously, you’ll be a little sad that you’re not in the event. It’s so big now and it’s such a buzz when you come to these events to play in them. But I’ve realised, you’ve just got to, at 55, you’re not going to be competitive enough as I want to be. Everything comes to an end.”
Matthew made her debut in the AIG Women’s Open in 1994 at Woburn, playing as an amateur, alongside Trish Johnson, with her mum as her caddie. She has recorded eight top 10 finishes in the championship, including the highlight, her victory at Royal Lytham in 2009, just 11 weeks after giving birth to her second daughter, Sophie.
“I think at the time in 2009, 11 weeks after I’d had Sophie. Obviously the second one was a little bit easier so it was easier to come back, but at the time you just get on with it and you don’t really realise. It’s probably not until you look back and reflect on it you think, God, how did I do that. Even now myself and Graeme look back and think how did we travel with them both, travelling on Tour with the two of them and all the luggage and up in the middle of the night with them. You wonder how on earth you ever managed to play any semi-decent golf.
“My mum and dad actually came down, so my mum said she would do the 3am feeds for Sophie. She did it during the week, but then on the Sunday night I remember saying, for our great celebration, that I would get up and feed Sophie. I remember my mum and me sitting there at the kitchen table at 3am in the morning with a cup of tea with the trophy sitting there feeding Sophie.”
She feels that the championship has been elevated considerably since then, and especially since it has been played at Open Championship venues, like St Andrews.
“When they started going around The Open rota courses, to come to St Andrews, it’s always been one of my favourite golf courses and from the days playing the St Rule Trophy as an amateur.
“It’s always very special coming back to St Andrews and playing. It’s a really special week. Obviously being Scottish, being British, growing up, the AIG Women’s Open was the one you wanted to win. If you were going to win a major, this is the one you wanted to win. It was your dream, holing that putt to win this event.”
The two-time successful European Solheim Cup captain, who led Team Europe to victory in 2019 and 2021 and also made nine appearances as a player, will be grouped with 2023 and 2024 United States Team Captain Stacy Lewis and Australian Hall of Famer Karrie Webb for the first two rounds, playing at 7.33am from the 10th on Thursday.
Lewis expressed her respect for Matthew when she said: “I get to play with her and Karrie Webb. That was like most exciting news to happen all week is my pairing.
“Catriona, she’s meant a tremendous amount to women’s golf, especially here in Scotland where, you know, we don’t have a ton of tour players coming out of here, and you can see, because the weather.
“She’s been such a tremendous competitor and to go up against her in Solheim Cup and watch her be a leader there, and she’s really become a leader in women’s golf, I feel like off the golf course, and has helped us continue to grow. It’s just a huge honour for me to get to play with her, and then also Karrie, someone that I’ve admired so much growing up. So I’m really, really excited for Thursday and Friday.”
Matthew’s leadership legacy will continue when she leads the GB&I Curtis Cup Team against the United States side at Sunningdale in England next week. On Tuesday, she played a practise round with GB&I Team member, Lottie Woad (pictured below).
