There weren’t any bagpipers to herald her triumphant march down the final fairway, but that didn’t bother Scotland’s ice-cool Catriona Matthew, who shot a one-under-par 71 to win the Lorena Ochoa Invitational by four strokes Sunday at the Guadalajara Country Club.
Without a victory on the LPGA Tour since her British Open win in 2009, the 42-year-old swept aside a top-quality field with some impeccable golf, dropping only one shot in her first three rounds.
And Matthew began Sunday’s round in equally fine form, holing four birdies in the opening nine holes, giving her a comfortable eight-shot lead at the turn.
But she dropped three shots on the inward nine, carding 12 under for the tournament, four strokes ahead of second-placed Anna Nordqvist of Sweden and defending champion I.K. Kim of South Korea.
Matthew admitted that she may have lost some focus on the run in.
“It’s just that much more difficult when you’ve got such a big lead. I didn’t know whether to keep trying to go for birdies or just play for pars and see if they make birdies, and in the end I did neither and kind of messed up a couple of holes.”
Second round leader and crowd favorite Juli Inkster of the United States was unable to keep up with the pace and dropped back to finish on five under par. Victory would have made the 51-year-old the oldest ever LPGA Tour winner.
Matthew picked up a winner’s check for 200,000 dollars as well as a watch courtesy of Rolex.
Jalisco Governor Emilio Gonzalez handed over the large porcelain trophy that Matthew called the “heaviest I have ever won.”
Matthew paid tribute to Lorena Ochoa, the hostess of the event who is expecting her first child next month.
“Lorena is doing such good work with her foundation,” said Matthew, who has two small daughters. “So to have won her tournament is a special moment for me.”
Ochoa, the Guadalajara-born former world number one who retired from the LPGA Tour in 2010, said she believed her tournament – which draws the top players in the world rankings – will continue to be part of the tour schedule whether she is playing or not.
And Gonzalez promised that the state government, one of the tournament’s biggest sponsors, would continue its support.
Although crowds were smaller on the first two days, fans turned out in good numbers over the weekend.
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