Matthew eyeing title

NORTH BERWICK'S Catriona Matthew is hoping to go one better than last year and become Scotland's first major winner at the Kraft Nabisco Championship at Mission Hills in California.

The 38-year-old finished joint second last year – she missed a putt to get into a play-off – and followed up with top tens in another three of the season's majors to underline her ability to rise to the big occasion.

In the Kraft, she has had three top-five results, and she admitted: "I love this course and I think it could be my best chance of a major. This is my 12th year in a row here so everything is very familiar and it is always one of my favourite tournaments.

"It was close last year. It was disappointing not to win but I had just come back from seven months' maternity leave so I was actually really surprised to do so well."

Matthew opened the season with a joint 12th in the HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore last month and had a reasonable finish in last week's Safeway International in Phoenix.

"I had a good winter break, but spent most of last month in Florida," she added. "It was good to get some time with my coach (Florida-based Englishman Dave Whelan) and to practise in good weather."

Janice Moodie and Mhairi McKay, who hasn't qualified for the Championship since 2005, are the other Scots in the line-up headed by world No.1 Lorena Ochoa, who has already won twice this year and is aiming for back-to-back majors following her victory in last year's Ricoh Women's British Open at St Andrews.

American Morgan Pressel, who became the youngest-ever women's major winner at the age of 18, defends the title.

In today's first round, all three Scots were due to be late starters. Matthew is partnering Angela Stanford, while McKay partners another American, Heather Daly-Donofrio, and Moodie joins the 2003 champion from France, Patricia Meunier-Pebouc.

Meanwhile, Clare Queen and Lynn Kenny join forces today as they carry Scotland's hopes in the inaugural £200,000 VCI European Ladies' Cup today at La Sella Golf Club near Alicante in Spain. The 20-team event is run on an unusual mixture of better ball and greensomes, and the Scots are among the favourites going into the four-day tournament.

"It is a strange format but I'm really looking forward to it and it is really exciting to be playing for Scotland for the first time as a professional," said Dunblane's Kenny. "I think Clare and I will make a really good team. We both played a lot for Scotland as amateurs and it's nice to have something different from the normal 72-hole strokeplay."

England's Trish Johnson and Rebecca Hudson are among the favourites, while the Scots were partnering Wales' Eleanor Pilgrim and Lydia Hall in today's first round.