Despite Catriona Matthew’s years of experience, she admitted to a few extra nerves on the first tee at the Ladies Scottish Open yesterday.
With Matthew having grown up just along the coast from Gullane in North Berwick, she knows this course, and the accompanying winds, like the back of her hand and while she wasn’t quite on her very best form, a solid two under par round of 69 leaves her tied for 22nd place, seven off the lead set by American Tiffany Joh.
Matthew was in the headline trio, playing alongside American Michelle Wie and world number two Sung-Hyun Park from South Korea but she is too experienced to be affected by such a grouping. The Scot harnessed those early nerves relatively well though and admitted she was pleased with how she got round the composite Gullane course.
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“I played really well,” she said.
“It was quite windy for our first nine, then dropped and then it picked up a little again.
"I was pleased with how I played, with the wind and the bumpiness, it's tough to get the ball close. I just missed the green on the third, the short par 3 and didn't get up-and-down. Apart from that, I played well.
"I thought that off the tee I drove it well or picked the right clubs off the tee. I don't think I was in a fairway bunker. That's pretty important in links golf.”
With Matthew plying her trade on the LPGA Tour, the Scottish fans have limited opportunities to watch her in person but the real positive for Matthew this week was having her two daughters on the sidelines cheering her on.
They didn’t quite last the full 18 holes though.
“That was great (to tee off in front of the home crowd)," she said.
“And my two daughters were there - it's not often they get to see me play. They got to see one shot - I don't know how much they walked around though.”
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