Matthew wins Ladies Scottish Open

An honorary member at Archerfield, where she regularly practises, Matthew’s win was her first on the LET since the 2012 Ladies Irish Open and afterwards she said she was just pleased to get the job done after a tough last round where winds gusted up to 30mph.

“When it’s this windy I normally don’t practice,” said Matthew, who also won the Ladies Scottish Open in 2011. “It was pretty windy out there.”The Scot began the final round with a three-shot lead and quickly moved four clear with a birdie on the par-5 second.

A second birdie, at the tricky par-5 sixth, saw her extend her lead to five shots over England’s Hannah Burke and Matthew was six strokes ahead after eight holes, before hitting her second shot into a pot bunker left of the ninth green, resulting in a bogey there.

“It’s great to win at home. It’s always nice play at home in front of your family and makes it special.”

She was five clear at the turn before Burke eagled 11 to get within three and then, briefly, two, after a birdie on 12. Matthew responded with birdies on 11, 14 and 15. After a double bogey on 16, she played the final two holes in level par.

“It’s great to win at home. It’s always nice play at home in front of your family and makes it special. I played really well today. It was very difficult with the wind. It was an amazing score by Hannah to shoot four-under. I saw the leaderboard after 15 and I thought I’d be a few more ahead than I was. It was a little tense coming down the last few holes.”

Defending champion Carly Booth finished fourth alongside LET rookie and fellow Scot Pamela Pretswell. Another Scot, Heather MacRae, ended the unique pro-am tournament in a share of sixth, with former Liverpool and Scotland defender Alan Hansen winning the amateur honours.