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Catriona Matthew has revealed that the 2024 Women’s Open will be her last as the Scot bows out at her “favourite course”, St Andrews.
Matthew will make her 30th consecutive appearance at the major as she competes on the Old Course.
The Scot secured her only major in 2009 at Royal Lytham & St Annes, one of four victories on the LPGA Tour.
“What better place than St Andrews to finish off,” Matthew told BBC Sport. “If it hadn’t been here, I probably wouldn’t be playing.
“This is probably my favourite golf course. It’ll be good fun. I’ve probably hit it the best I’ve hit it in a couple of years in practice and on the range. Teeing it up on Thursday is a different matter, so we’ll see.”
Twice a Solheim Cup-winning captain, Matthew made nine appearances as a player for Europe in the biennial event.
She will skipper Great Britain and Ireland at Sunningdale next week as the leading female amateurs clash with the United States in the Curtis Cup.
Matthew will turn 55 on Sunday and hopes to celebrate her birthday by making the weekend.
“I’m not going to be winning the event but I think a goal for me this week would be to try and make the cut,” she added.
“You don’t want to come and keep playing in the event when you’re not competitive. It just felt being in St Andrews, in Scotland, the Home of Golf, what better place to play my last one.
“I think probably in a way a little bit of a mixture of relief, knowing myself that this will be the last one I’m going to play in.
“Obviously you’ll be a little sad that you’re not in the event. It’s so big now and it’s such a buzz when you come to these events to play in them. But I’ve realised, you’ve just got to, at 55, you’re not going to be competitive enough as I want to be. Everything comes to an end.”
