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Host Annika Sörenstam put her difficult week behind her after carding a confidence-boosting four-under-par 68 to finish in ninth place on level par.
“Today was a little different in many ways,” said Sörenstam, who spent some time on the range with her coach Henri Reis following her 74 on Saturday. “I was able to hit some fairways and when you hit fairways you get birdie opportunities and I hit a few. A few putts make quite a difference.”
Following her ninth place, the former World Number One leapfrogged fellow Swede Linda Wessberg in the European Solheim Cup Team standings for the Team that will face the United States next month at Halmstad in Sweden. Sörenstam now takes fifth place, just inside the cut-off point for automatic selection.
Next week’s Wales Ladies Championship of Europe at Machynys Peninsula Golf Club in Llanelli is the final qualifying event for the European side.
Matthew, who beat Rosie Jones 3&1 in the singles to reclaim The Solheim Cup for Europe at Barsebäck in 2003, said she had been delighted to return to the scene of Europe’s triumph.
“I have some happy memories here,” she enthused.
“I loved the greens – I have never holed so many putts.
“It just about felt like I was playing in Scotland, I had so much support.”
Matthew also paid tribute to tournament Sörenstam, whom the Scot described as ‘the best golfer ever’.
“To play in a tournament hosted by Annika is just fantastic,” she said.
Matthew earned a first prize of €78.750 and climbed 12 places to third on the LET’s New Star Money List following her win. She is also expected to climb from her 30th position in the Rolex World Rankings when the updated rankings are released on Monday.
