Catriona Matthew (born 25 August 1969) is a Scottish
professional golfer who plays mainly on the U.S.
based LPGA Tour and is also a member of the Ladies
European Tour.
Catriona Lambert was born in Edinburgh, but grew up
in North Berwick and learned to play on the
Children's Course and North Berwick West Links in
the town. She had a successful junior and amateur
career, becoming Scottish Girls champion in 1986 and
Scottish Under-21 Stroke Play champion in 1988 and
1989. She captured the Scottish Amateur title in
1991, 1993 and 1994, and the British Amateur title
in 1993. She is also a two time winner of the St
Rule Trophy played at St. Andrews. She was a member
of the 1990, 1992 and 1994 Great Britain & Ireland
Curtis Cup teams. She graduated from the University
of Stirling in 1992 having studied accountancy,this
being one of a few British universities offering
golf scholarships.
Matthew qualified for the LPGA Tour by tying for
fifth at the 1994 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament
to earn exempt status for the 1995 season. She soon
established herself on the tour, and her best season
through 2004 was 2001, when she finished tenth on
the money list. Her two LPGA victories came at the
2001 Cup Noodles Hawaiian Ladies Open and the 2004
Wendy's Championship for Children. Her best finish
in an LPGA major is a tie for third at the 2001
Women's British Open.
Matthew also plays a few Ladies European Tour events
each season, and she won her maiden professional
tournament at the Australian Ladies Open in 1996.
She also won the 1998 McDonald's WPGA Championship
on that tour. She was a member of the 1998 Solheim
Cup Team[8] and first reserve for the 2000 match
held in her native Scotland. When Helen Alfredsson
hurt her wrist she was called into the team but
Alfredson recovered and Matthew didn't play. She was
somewhat controversially left out of the 2002
Solheim Cup team but was a captain's pick for the
2003 team, gaining the cup winning point. She was a
captain's pick for the 2005 team as well. She teamed
with Janice Moodie to represent Scotland at the 2005
and 2006 Women’s World Cup of Golf. And was a member
of the victorious International team captained by
Annika Sörenstam in the inaugural Lexus Cup.
In the official world rankings released on 21
February 2006, Matthew was ranked 19th in the world,
making her the top British female golfer. She won
the 2007 Scandinavian TPC Hosted by Annika.
Matthew's husband Graeme is her caddy and in January
2007 they had their first child, a daughter, Katie.
