WOMEN'S TOUR BRITISH OPEN:LET THE debate begin over the precise magnitude of Catriona Matthew's achievement. Eleven weeks and a day after giving birth for the second time Matthew became the first Scot to claim a women's major title, with victory at the British Open. Throw in Matthew's much publicised escape from a fire in France 12 days ago and the fact that, by her own admission, British and Scottish ladies' golf is desperately in need of a shot in the arm and her triumph here should not be underplayed.
“It is absolutely terrific,” Matthew said. “I never thought I could come back, play as well as I have done and win. It feels amazing. My initial thought was just to make the cut here.”
The professional from North Berwick was back on the practice range five weeks after the arrival of her new baby, Sophie, and inexplicably discovered she was in the form of her life.
Only two other mothers, Nancy Lopez and Juli Inkster, have won majors since 1960. Matthew finished third and second in the two events that followed the birth of her first child; the mechanics of baby delivery have surely never before featured in a champion’s press conference and are unlikely to again. No epidural was required, Matthew very kindly volunteered.
“It was a four-hour labour second time around, very speedy,” she explained. “I didn’t really take medical advice after that. I was just told to get back playing as soon as I felt able; after eight or nine weeks I was back to normal.”
Matthew, three shots clear before a ball was struck yesterday, was never overhauled at the top of the leaderboard despite finding parts of the course she had not encountered earlier in the competition. A one-over-par 73 proved sufficient, victory claimed by the same margin that she held at the start of the day.
There was the added intrigue of her playing partner, Christina Kim, whose madcap antics kept spectators laughing and Matthew – a softly-spoken and essentially low-key sort – probably wishing she had a set of ear plugs to hand despite her later assertions to the contrary. “Christina was fantastic, she was egging me on the whole way round.”
There was no need for the BBC to provide a description of Kim’s play – she offers a far more impressive running commentary on her own than Peter Alliss could reasonably muster.
Supermum, as Matthew has been branded on account of this showing on the Lancashire coast, did not succeed without the odd wobble. Two dropped shots in her opening three holes had doubters believing external factors had caught up with her at last.
Another bogey at the 10th, combined with the imposing figures of Karrie Webb and Paula Creamer in the background, threatened to derail Matthew’s epic bid.
Three successive birdies from the 13th to the 15th restored the 39-year-old’s position. By her last hole Matthew had the cushion of three shots and could savour every moment before returning a three-under aggregate score. “There was a tear in my eye at that point,” she said. “I knew after my tee shot on 18 that I had won.”
It would be stretching matters to compare Matthew’s success in relative terms to what the 59-year-old Tom Watson would have achieved had he won at Turnberry last month. There is much greater strength in depth in the men’s professional game than exists in the women’s.
Nonetheless the dominance of American and Asian players in the female game renders victories such as Matthew’s notable enough even without the unconventional backdrop to her success.
Creamer will be the most disappointed of those who fell short. The American moved to within a shot of the lead at one stage but a series of missed birdie putts rounded off with a disastrous 18th hole – Creamer found a treacherous bunker lie from the tee and thinned her third shot through the back of the green – undermined her efforts.
The capitulation meant Webb, a three-time winner of this event, took second place.
For Matthew there is a cheque for €231,151 and a place in sporting history. Even the changing of nappies will be done with a smile in the coming weeks.
