For the time being, Catriona Matthew's younger daughter, Sophie, will keep cracking the whip.

"She's a hard taskmaster and she keeps telling me not to come home unless I get a trophy," said the mother of two after her play-off defeat in the Wegmans LPGA Championship in New York on Sunday night. "I'm getting closer."

She certainly is. Having tied for seventh in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the opening major of the year, earlier in the season, Matthew once again demonstrated her steely resolve and unwavering competitive instinct by coming close to capturing a second major of her career at the age of 43.

It was a marathon at the Locust Hill club, with 36 holes shoehorned into the final day because of bad weather, but Matthew had enough in reserve to make a sprint for the line. Her flawless four-under 68 thrust her to the head of the field but, having made up seven shots on frontrunner Park Inbee, she would lose out to the Korean world No.1 at the third extra hole.

After a run of three missed cuts in her four events prior to last weekend's championship, it was a welcome return to form for Matthew. The determination to add another major title to the Women's British Open crown she plundered in 2009 remains as strong as ever and, on the evidence of Sunday's showing, you would not bet against the North Berwick stalwart accomplishing that feat.

With the US Women's Open taking place later this month and the Ricoh Women's British Open returning to St Andrews at the start of August, the season is hotting up and Matthew, Scotland's highest-ranked player, is keen to be in the mix.

"These are the tournaments you want to win," said Matthew, who took another significant step towards confirming her place in the European team for the defence of the Solheim Cup later in the campaign. "Looking back, I think it was great to have a chance. I've been out here 19 years now, so [I know from experience that] these are the big tournaments; they're certainly the ones you're trying to win."

At the start of the year, Matthew expressed her belief that she was playing some of the best golf of her career and, on an energy-sapping closing day in New York, she showed no signs of letting up. "I don't think fatigue was a factor in the play-off," she added. "I think just the adrenaline of being in the play-off kept me going. I certainly didn't feel tired."

There will be no rest until another major title comes Matthew's way. Her daughter will make sure of that.