Catriona Matthew has been appointed as European captain for the next Solheim Cup in her homeland at Gleneagles in 2019.

Matthew made her ninth appearance as a player for the European team at Des Moines in Iowa last month, having served as a vice-captain to Annika Sörenstam.

Selected as the travelling alternate by the captain, she stepped into the player role after Suzann Pettersen withdrew through injury and, despite Europe losing overall, the Scot proved to be one of the stars of the team, earning three points for Europe from her four matches.

With a career total of 22 Solheim Cup points, Matthew moved up to third on the all-time points list, behind Laura Davies (25) and Sörenstam (24). She also moved into joint third with Cristie Kerr on the all-time match victories list, with 18 career match wins, behind only Davies and Sörenstam with 22 apiece.

Now Matthew is looking forward to her next challenge: leading Europe to its sixth victory over the United States of America. She said: “It’s a great honour and a dream come true to be the captain at home in Scotland. Since my first appearance in 1998, I have always loved playing in The Solheim Cup. It’s always such an incredible atmosphere and over the years that I’ve played, I’ve enjoyed it more and more."