Inspirational Catriona Matthew does it again as crowning Curtis Cup moment goes to another Scot

Add a Sunningdale success to Gleneagles glory and a Tulsa triumph for Catriona Matthew as a captain. A double winner at the helm for Europe in the Solheim Cup, the North Berwick woman pulled it off again, this time steering the Great Britain & Ireland ship in the 43rd Curtis Cup.

As was the case with both those Solheim Cup triumphs in 2019 and 2021, she was made to sweat in the last-day singles, but, helped by a brilliant win from compatriot Lorna McClymont as the Milngavie player showed she is made of stern stuff, it was mission accomplished once again as the home side claimed a first win in the event since 2016 with a hard-earned 10-5-9.5 victory.

“This is just as special as any of the others as it’s all the same emotions and it came down to another nail-biter,” admitted Matthew, who was the first professional to be appointed by The R&A as a captain in either the Curtis Cup or Walker Cup and well and truly justified that decision with this welcome result after back-to-back defeats for GB&I by a combined 16-point margin at Conwy in 2021 then Merion last year.

Lorna McClymont is congratulated by Kathryn Imrie, one of Catriona Matthew's assistants, after winning a crucial last-day point at Sunningdale. Picture: Tom Dulat/R&A/R&A via Getty Images.

“Any chance you captain a team and you are representing your country, there is no bigger honour and I had a fantastic team. All eight of them contributed and we had a great week. We were relaxed, enjoyed it and the players went out and played some amazing golf.”

In a dramatic concluding session in the blistering Berkshire sunshine, GB&I had set out holding a 7-5 lead, which meant they only needed three-and-a-half points from eight head-to-head matches to come out on top for just the third time in the last 14 encounters.

In truth, it didn’t look as though they’d reach that target for most of the session, with the US, captained by Meghan Stasi, bursting out of the blocks to quickly go ahead in three of the top four matches and then be leading in six of them.

Indeed, with 15-year-old Asterisk Talley going on to beat world No 1 Lottie Woad in the top match and Anna Davis, the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion, landing another big point for the Americans at the expense of Hannah Darling in the third match, it wasn’t looking promising at all for the home side before, all of a sudden, a glimmer of hope turned into maybe a draw at best then, amazingly, a chance to pull a win out of the bag.

Captain Catriona Matthew and her Great Britain & Ireland players celebrate winning the 43rd Curtis Cup at Sunningdale. Picture: Oisin Keniry/R&A/R&A via Getty Images.

Ireland Sara Byrne, who finished as GB&I’s star player after being unbeaten in five matches, and England’s Patience Rhodes delivered much-needed points against Catherine Park and Zoe Campsos respectively before McClymont, who holed putt after putt either to win holes or half them, guaranteed at least a draw with a brilliant 3&2 victory over 2023 US Women’s Anmateur champion Megan Schofill then the win was sealed shortly afterwards as Mimi Rhodes, Patience’s big sister, made the biggest par save of her career at the 17th against Melanie Green, the R&A Women’s Amateur champion, as they ended up all square.

Having loaded her singles order only to then see both Woad, who had been top European player in the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews, and Darling, the next highest-ranked player in the home ranks, lose, it was rewarding for Matthew that a strength in depth had got job the done instead.

“As the world No 1, Lottie wanted to go out first and she had a real battle against Asterisk, who played some amazing golf,” said Matthew of the talented teenager making five birdies and an eagle, with only Byrne outshining that sort of golf on the day as she got the better of Park in the match behind thanks to making an eagle and six birdies. “But it was one of these sides where there wasn't really anyone not playing well. It was tough to know where to put them.”

Debutant McClymont, who was cheered on by a small army of fans led by her mum and dad, said she hadn’t realised that it had essentially come down to her match in the last hour or so. “I was just focusing on just one shot at a time,” insisted the Scottish Women’s champion, “but you could sense the crowd building and it’s the most people I’ve ever played with. Knowing that most of them were cheering is, I just kind of embraced it and soaked it all up. Yeah, really good.”

In her third appearance in the event, Darling finally ended up on the winning team. “It’s amazing,” she admitted. “It really makes up for the heartbreak at Conwy then Merion, where we didn’t really stand a chance. We knew we were going to do it here all week. We had that quiet confidence and we fought to the end.”

Given that the GB&I team had been huge underdogs on paper, it was a brilliant victory at one of the game’s iconic venues, with a thrilling three days of golf handing the women’s game another big boost on the back of Lydia Ko proving a popular winner in the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews.

“Hats off to the Americans as they gave us a battle,” added Matthew, who pulled off a masterstroke behind the scenes by enlisting Karen Stupples, a Women’s Open winner here, and Kathryn Imrie, as her assistants. “We knew they were going to come out strong today and they did. But this team dug in deep, as they did in every session and I couldn’t be happier for them.”

Stasi, who’d seen her side lead early on in all three matches in the opening session on Friday before soon discovering that this GB&I team was a gritty bunch, believed the difference in the end had been simple. “We just had a few missed putts here and there while they made some absolutely incredible up-and-downs, and they made a few longer putts. I think that was really about it,” was her summing up .