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Solheim Cup winning captain Catriona Matthew has told bunkered how a pep talk from tennis great Martina Navratilova helped inspire her European team to victory at Gleneagles this year.

Matthew was speaking in the latest edition of Scotland’s only golf magazine (issue 176), in which she makes her cover debut.

In her most in-depth interview since the dramatic victory over Juli Inkster’s American side in September, Matthew explained how Navratilova – the most successful tennis player of all time – rallied her troops before the action got underway.

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“Martina came to speak to the players one evening,” she told us. “She was there doing some stuff for [sponsor] Aberdeen Standard Investments, so she popped in when we were having a team meal one night.

“She spoke mainly about pressure. Walking out onto Centre Court at Wimbledon or Roland Garros is, I suppose, very similar to walking out onto the first tee. It was great to hear from her.”

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In a wide-ranging chat at her home in North Berwick, the Scot also revealed:

• What the players drank from the trophy after the win

• Her surprise at Suzann Pettersen’s sudden retirement

• What the dramatic finish was like from her point of view

• Danielle Kang’s controversial comments in the build-up to the match

• The incredible crowds at Gleneagles

• Nicklaus’ watch sells for small fortune

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Matthew also revealed the little piece of prospective history that tempted her to take the captaincy again for the 2021 match at Inverness Golf Club in Ohio.

“With us winning, it had crossed my mind that they might ask me to do it again,” she said. “Obviously, you can’t top Gleneagles but I just felt that it would be so different to do it in America and no European captain has won it back-to-back before, so it would be great to go and do that.”

Read the full interview with Catriona in issue 176 of bunkered, on-sale from all good newsagents and stockists.

Alternatively, click here to subscribe to bunkered for just £36 and get THREE rounds of golf as a treat!

Bunkered Issue 176

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