NORTH BERWICK'S Catriona Matthew opened the season with a solid joint-18th place after a closing 74 in the weather-interrupted final round at the HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore.
However, the tropical thunderstorms hardly affected Mexico's Lorena Ochoa and she waltzed to a stunning 11-shot victory.
Matthew will now go to Florida for a short practice stint with coach Dave Whelan before getting the LPGA season really underw
ay at the Safeway International in Phoenix in three weeks time.
The final round stretched to over eight hours due to three delays for tropical thunderstorms and Matthew had a mix of three birdies and five bogeys to finish with a one over par total and pocketed £10,000. But no-one could match Ochoa as she led from start to finish and won the £150,000 winner's cheque after a final-round 68 and a 20-under 268 total.
It was a sixth win in ten starts for the 26-year-old world No.1 – a run that started with her win in last year's Ricoh Women's British Open at St Andrews.
Matthew, who had a joint best of day 69 in the third round, bogeyed the last after she failed to get up and down from the edge of the green, but she was still content with her first result of the new season.
She said: "The finish was a little disappointing. But it was a good, solid start to the year. It was a tough day because we were out and in and out and in. Now I go home for a few days before going to Florida and then the start of a long run on the road."
Glasgow's Janice Moodie had a 71 – her best of the tournament – to tie for 30th on four over par, while Turnberry's Mhairi McKay, the third Scot in the field, closed with a 76 for six over and was just inside the top 40.
Annika Sorenstam, who won the opening event of the LPGA season in Hawaii two weeks ago, clinched second place with a closing 71 for nine under par with American Paula Creamer in third place on seven under after a 73.
Ochoa couldn't have been happier. "I practiced very hard over the winter and came out ready to win," she said. "I was especially happy to shoot under par every day and to be so consistent.
"I thought I drove very well this week and I didn't have any three putts. It is good to see that all the hard work has paid off."
The full article contains 436 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
