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Slight fuels Matthew
Updated: Monday February 19, 2001 5:45 PM
Rejection can sometimes prove be the best motivation. Just ask Catriona Matthew. Saturday, she captured her first LPGA title at the Cup Noodles Hawaiian Ladies Open, and she owes it all to Dale Reid.
The outspoken, roly-poly Reid passed over Matthew for last year's European Solheim Cup team, even though Matthew is one of the most consistent foreign players on the LPGA. For the last couple of years, Matthew has been on the brink of breaking through. I'm sure most of you have never heard of her, but that's because she's not the type to brag about herself. Matthew is known to the players and caddies on tour as "Bean," which probably stems from her small stature. She exemplifies what the founders of golf thought a "lady" should be. Her posture tells it all. Standing so straight, the way Mom always wanted you to, Matthew is proud but never lets it show. She is very selective with her words, but enjoys a good laugh. Her smile is unique. While she never bares all her teeth, her trademark smirk reveals she is laughing inside. But Matthew's natural exuberance was challenged last September. Reid's Solheim Cup team selections caused a ton of controversy. Instead of going with the hot young guns like Matthew or Charlotta Sorenstam, she picked a few twice-baked retreads from teams past. After the Europeans defeated the Americans for only the second time, no one second-guessed Reid's brilliance. But at the time she made the selection, the captain raised a few eyebrows -- and even the blood pressure of Matthew. At the Betsy King Classic the week after the teams were announced, Matthew went about her business on the practice range. But her life had changed. No longer could she be Miss Nice and Innocent. She had reason to be upset. She was 29th on the money list, ahead of four of the women selected for the team. "I'm not happy," Matthew said. "But what is done is done, and Dale picked a solid team." But the disappointment in her face said it all. Her statement could have been translated, "I'm going to kick some ass and show that blind bat Reid what she is missing." Adding insult to injury, Matthew was summoned days before the event in her homeland. After Helen Alfredsson lost a fight with the pavement in the parking lot, injuring her left wrist, Matthew was brought in as Alfredsson's standby. The day before the opening matches, Matthew practiced hard with the team she'd always dreamed of playing on, but once again she was stood up. This time, Matthew couldn't keep her emotions in check. She cried like a newborn when she was told that Alfredsson had been cleared to play. The thought of not competing hurt Matthew so much that she had to leave Loch Lomond. She drove three hours home to North Berwick -- and didn't watch even a single shot of the competition. Last week, after defeating Annika Sorenstam by two shots in Hawaii, Matthew had plenty of people to thank, especially her husband and loyal caddie, Graham. But in her acceptance speech she failed to mention Reid. Obviously, it must have been just an oversight. Maybe she couldn't think of the appropriate words; maybe she is just too much of a lady to stoop that low. But as she stood tall, holding the trophy with her half-cocked smile, I'm sure she was thinking, Thanks, Dale. Thanks for pissing me off. Tom Hanson, a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated's Golf Plus section, is a longtime caddie on the LPGA Tour. Click here to send him a question or comment.
The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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