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RICOH WOMEN’S BRITISH OPENAugust 1, 2018Catriona MatthewFife, Scotland MODERATOR: Well, Catriona Matthew, welcome to the Ricoh Women's British Open Media Centre. This is your 24th appearance in this championship, consecutive, should I say. You've made 15 cuts in 23 starts with seven Top 10, including a victory here in 2009. It's always nice coming back somewhere you have fond memories. How is it to be back? CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, it's great to be back. I haven't been back since 2009. So it was nice, I played on Monday and then played yesterday. So it was great to play the course again, and you kind of just forget how good of golf course it is until you come and play it again actually. Every hole just about you've gotta think about. I think nine is probably the only hole that you've got a slight letup, just a short iron onto a par-3, but every other hole you've really gotta think about and plot your way around the golf course. MODERATOR: So you won by three shots in 2009 with a final round 73, but I think the groundwork was probably made on the Friday with the stretch of holes on 11, eagle, hole-in-one on 12 and a birdie on 13. Are those the key holes this week or are there others that stand out to you? CATRIONA MATTHEW: I think there are definitely others that stand out. Obviously in 2009 they were obviously a highlight for me, stand-out holes for me, but yeah, I think the start is important. The first three holes are difficult. Obviously starting with the par-3 is slightly strange, and then two and three, it a little bit depends which way the wind is blowing, but then do you hit driver into the bunkers on, do you lay up, maybe shoot for a longer shot, so I think those first three holes if you can get through them kind of even-ish, you'll be doing well, off to a good start. MODERATOR: You talk about par-3 being a strange start. How weird is it teeing off on a par-3 on a major championship? Would you prefer to get driver out and kind of get it down a par-4 or does it not matter to you? CATRIONA MATTHEW: No. I expect it probably doesn't really matter. It's just unusual. Not many golf courses start with a par-3. In some ways it's quite nice actually. You can kind of ease your way in with an iron hopefully. MODERATOR: Obviously you're here to win this week, but you're also here as Solheim Cup captain for Team Europe. Are you going to be keeping one eye on the other European players in the field and see how they perform? CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, obviously since I was announced as captain, you're obviously looking at how everyone was doing, and it was great to see Pernilla win the ANA. I think the Europeans have been playing pretty well on the whole this year. As for specific performances, it's a bit early. Really more next year. But yeah, I'm always looking at the results with more interest now shall I say. MODERATOR: So you're still the only Scot to have won a major championship. Are there any Scots that could do it this week? CATRIONA MATTHEW: Well, I think there's only two of us in the field. I would like to think we've got chances. MODERATOR: I'll open it up for questions. Q. Catriona, when you won in 2009, 11 weeks, I believe, after giving birth, there's been so much talk about women and mothers in sport recently, specifically with Serena returning so close at Wimbledon. There were actually some tweets comparing what you did to what she was trying to do. And now we've got so many in the professional ladies games, Stacy Lewis, of course. Gerina Piller coming back. We know plenty of people, Suzann Pettersen going out for pregnancy. Do you appreciate what you managed to achieve in 2009? Do you think something similar could be done again and what advice would you give the new mothers coming back to the game? CATRIONA MATTHEW: I think -- I mean I probably at the time didn't really probably appreciate what a big deal it was, only 11 weeks after having Sophie, but now looking back, I suppose you can realize what an amazing feat it really was actually. At the time I suppose you just get on with it, and I was playing golf, looking after Katie and Sophie, but you just kind of mud along, don't you? As for the other ones playing, you can see from obviously myself, Serena, a few of the athletes as well have all come back from having children. I think it's beginning to show there's no reason why you can't come back. Certainly when I had Katie, the first one, it was a concern. I mean I was out for six months, and you do wonder. You kind of think, you perhaps doubt yourself a little, will I be able to come back. It's a long time off, but to be honest when I came back, I think Phoenix was my first tournament back from Katie, and I can remember turning to Graeme and saying it feels like I've never been away. So I think it's definitely -- I mean I'm not going to say it's easy to come back because obviously you've got other commitments now, but it's possible. Q. Is it weird being compared to Serena Williams? CATRIONA MATTHEW: It is a little. Yeah. It's quite nice. Q. Over the years have you been approached by a lot of players who are pregnant or wanting to have children, asking for advice, and what do you say to them about the best way to proceed? CATRIONA MATTHEW: I think everyone -- you have to kind of do what's best for you. I was always lucky, Graeme caddied for me, so it was the two of us out there. I think if you were going to play on tour, they have the daycare, which is fantastic and we couldn't have done it without that, but I think it's very difficult to do if it's just you and your children or child out there. You need someone else out there apart from just the daycare. I mean obviously Graeme, I was always lucky to have him travel with me, but it's just having that support. And you just have to realize that golf isn't everything and you have to kind of manage your time a lot better. And I mean you do have less time to practice, but I think what you get having children outweighs maybe losing a few hours on the practice range. Q. Do you imagine there are two Scots here that are 10 Swedish players. It's a record for a major championship. You being the Solheim Cup captain, the Swedish captain. I wonder if you could elaborate on Swedish golf for a moment. CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah. Obviously Sweden has produced some amazing female golfers, obviously started with probably Helen and Liselotte, then Annika came along. Probably the best woman golfer there's been. Sweden, for such a small country and with the climate it gets, maybe Scotland should be looking at certain things like they do so we can hopefully produce some more golfers. Obviously you've got Pernilla that's winning, Anna. At the U. S. Open and then 10-under on Monday. So you've got a lot of good talent coming up. Q. Do you think Swedish players have something in common? CATRIONA MATTHEW: Like anything, they're all their own personalities, I think. I think having more players from a small country you push each other on. So I think if you've got two or three good ones that kind of pushes them on and then that whole play inspires the younger ones coming up, so I think if you can keep having a few players there, that kind of keeps the flow coming through. Q. And do you have any tips for a Swedish player as a contender for the British Open and how many players will you have on the Solheim Cup team? CATRIONA MATTHEW: I don't think I can really say how many Swedes I'll have on the team yet. I mean the tip for around here is keeping it out the bunkers. I think the person that keeps it out of the most fairway bunkers is going to be up there. Q. Catriona, 12 months ago you were very honest about the state of the LET. At the time 12 months on, where do you find things are and where do they need to be in 12 months further on? CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah. I think the LET is in a much stronger position now. I think obviously Mark and his team have kind of taken over this year, perhaps a slight transition year. It was never going to go from what they had the year before to a full schedule this year. But I think from what I've heard, the schedule next year is looking strong. There's already two new tournaments and hopefully a few others in the pipeline. So hopefully it's hit the bottom and looks like we're on the way up now I would say. Q. Just curious if you could go back in time and give us some behind the scenes of the week that you won in 2009 preparing for your kids, maybe some chaos that was going on scheduling everything? CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah. I remember we stayed at Ruby Hall. It was like a holiday camp kind of place. Great for the kids. And my mom and dad came down, and they were -- my mom was doing the kind of night feeds with Sophie. Obviously Katie was only -- I think she was about two and a bit then. We'd go back and feed the ponies and things, just the normal things you do. But yeah, I think you just have to get on with it, don't you? The moment you leave the golf course, you're back to being a mom and looking after them and things. Obviously I was lucky Graeme was there and my mom and dad, so took a bit of the strain away. But I suppose our Sunday night celebration was my mom and me sitting at three in the morning feeding Sophie, having a cup of tea, trophy sitting there next to us. Q. And then the U.S. Senior Women's Open, I wonder if you've played that much attention to what was going on there, and I asked Laura if she thought that there might be a day that there would be a senior women's British, do you think that's possible and do you think there's enough interest in it now? CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah. We did watch some of it from the senior women's open. I thought it was great. I was speaking to Laura and Trish just last week, and they said they got amazing crowds. USGA had to print more tickets. So I think it was very well supported. I just can't wait to go and play in it, to be honest. I think it would be great if the R&A would start a Senior British Open. I think obviously they saw from the success in the U. S. that there's no reason why it can't be a success over here. Q. The announcement yesterday on green reading books. I wonder what your take is on that. You use one, and should they be used or banned outright? What do you think? CATRIONA MATTHEW: I kind of think they've got a little out of hand. I think they should ban them completely. They're kind of halfway what's acceptable, what's not. I think they should ban them, I think. I think green reading is something -- I mean I've tried the books. For me it's all just -- it took the feel away perhaps a little bit. But yeah, if you don't want people to use them, just ban them outright. Q. Can you tell us what the state of your game is? And also do you notice the changes, the 37 northside bunkers that they've taken out? Does the course play any differently because of that from when you won in 2009? CATRIONA MATTHEW: You know, I would say if someone had told me they'd taken 40 bunkers out and I couldn't quite believe it. I think the only one I probably noticed that wasn't there that made the hole play a lot easier was 16. They've taken the first one out and the last. It gives you a lot more room just to fire it down the left side. That was probably the only one I really noticed. And then someone told me, oh, they'd taken ones away on the fifth and the last. And once someone told me, I kind of remembered. But that was probably the only one I would have noticed. And my game has been a little up and down. I feel like I'm hitting it well on the range, but -- and then I'll have -- you know, obviously I had the Thursday last week I played really well. Just kind of -- barely hit a bad shot and then the next day I went out and it was just dreadful. So it's a little up and down, but yeah, you've always got to be positive. I'm hitting it well, like what I'm working on, so you've just gotta stay positive. Q. All right. Catriona. Big stretch of golf for you. How much are you looking forward to that? Gleneagles and go exploring? CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it actually. It seems like a fun event. I'm playing with Holly Clyburn, so yeah, I think we play round robin the first few days and then you play, I think, a foursome stroke play with one of the men and then foursomes match play on the Sunday. So three different formats in one week, which will be interesting. But I'm looking forward to seeing Gleneagles because it's a similar time to when the Solheim will be next year, so who knows if we'll have as nice a summer. That's probably quite up in the air. But we'll see how it's playing after a long hot summer. Q. Catriona, Charley Hull is still very young, but already one of the premier European players, highest ranked. What do you like most about her game and what do you see her needing to do to get to a level where you're at, winning majors? CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah. I mean obviously Charley has played really consistently in the majors this year. I think she's Top 10 in them all. Yeah, she hits it a lot way, Charley. She's a great ball striker. I think with Charley she has a different personality, but I think if you took too much of that out of her, it might kind of harm her game, but I think she is a bit of a free spirit, and I think if she gets her putter going, she'll be in contention. At the end of the day the winner, of the ones up there they're all playing well, so it really just comes down to who holes the putts. Q. Laura has said for a while that she has no interest in being captain of a Solheim Cup team. Does that surprise you at all and do you see a time when some players might try to convince her otherwise? CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, for someone who's been such an integral part for the Solheim Cup. I mean I think she played in the first 12. It's a shame that she doesn't want to do it. Obviously you can't force people to do something they don't want to do. Obviously she does her commentary on it, so she's still kind of involved in some way. I mean it's Laura's decision, but I'm sure if she said she wanted to do it, she would get that chance. Q. The two Scots this week, obviously yourself and Carly, is this the lowest representation you can recall in all your years playing in this? CATRIONA MATTHEW: I'm not sure. You probably know more of the stats on that than me. It certainly seems a pretty low number to me. So I would have to say that probably is probably one of the lowest. It's usually a handful of us obviously. Q. I mean you tie women in golf in week. Is that still a concern for you that -- I mean you've carried the flag brilliantly for years. CATRIONA MATTHEW: Yeah, I mean it is a shame. Obviously Gemma got her LPGA Tour card this year. Yeah. I mean I'd like to see more Scots coming through. I was fortunate when I first started there was about four or five on tour. But since the three of them have stopped, it's just been me. So yeah, it's kind of disappointing that there's not more coming through. Q. Weekend as a professional and she's only 22. How do you compare the standard now to when you started out on tour, Catriona? CATRIONA MATTHEW: I think the main changes I would say is -- I mean I don't know if the standard of the top ones is actually any better. It's just the depth, there's far more now. Probably when I first started you could probably name 20, 30 people that were probably going to win it. And now I think you could probably name a lot more that are likely to win it. So I don't think it's the fact that the actual standard of the top players is any better. It's just there's far more of them and there's far more competition. The players are coming from all over the world. When I first started, it was really just the Americans and the Europeans and maybe the odd Japanese. But now obviously you've got all the countries in Asian just about. Thailand is a big force at the moment and obviously and South Korea, so it's just a much bigger pool. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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