Catriona Matthew set for St Andrews swansong as past champion explains why this will be her last Women's Open

“Yeah, I think this will be the last time I play in this event,” announced Matthew on a visit to the Media Centre on Wednesday ahead of her 30th outing as a professional, including a memorable title triumph at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2009, and 31st in total after also teeing up as an amateur.

As a former champion, the North Berwick woman could have kept playing in The R&A major until she turned 60, but, having missed the cut on her last three appearances and hardly playing any competitive golf these days, her swansong will be in the event’s third staging on the Old Course.

“Everything comes to an end,” added a smiling Matthew, who, in addition to getting her hands on the trophy, recorded five more top-ten finishes, the most coming in 2016. “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, at 55, I've realised you're not going to be competitive enough as I want to be. It just felt being in St Andrews, in Scotland, the Home of Golf, what better place to play my last one.”

Her daughters won’t be in attendance on Thursday morning when the nine-time Solheim Cup player and back-to-back winning captain in the biennial event tees off in Thursday’s opening round in the company of two fellow past champions, Karrie Webb and Stacy Lewis. “Unfortunately, they go back to school on Thursday, so they won’t be here,” she reported. “They’re very keen that I try my hardest to make the cut.”

That would be a fitting final chapter and, even though she may have been reluctant to admit it, a pause on the Swilcan Bridge on her walk up the 18th hole is certainly merited at some point over the next few days because, let's not beat about the bush, Matthew has been a fantastic ambassador for the women’s game in the sport’s birthplace.

“I don't know about that,” she said in typically unassuming fashion of it being suggested that a traditional send off for greats of the game on the Old Course was appropriate in her case before adding with another smile “I’m still kind of competitive” while also admitting that knowing this is her farewell was “a little bit of relief”.

In that amateur appearance at Woburn, Matthew’s mum, Joan, was pulling her clubs. “I think we made the cut, and I remember playing with Trish Johnson, who had been a pro for a while and was one of the top players in Europe. So that was quite a nerve-racking experience for me,” she said.

In recent years, Matthew, who will wear a captain’s hat again – this time for Great Britain & Ireland – in next week’s Curtis Cup at Sunningdale, admitted visiting venues such as here, Troon and Muirfield for the first time in the event had enhanced her Women’s Open experiences, but she does have one regret.

“Obviously I won in '09 and I’m delighted that I managed to get the win that one time, but my record probably hasn't been as good as I would have liked in this event,” she declared. “I think before that I just tried too hard, put too much pressure on myself coming back. Playing in Britain, you're wanting to play well in front of the home fans and family and friends.”

In her lust hurrah, Matthew will have just one other Scot in Gemma Dryburgh for company in a 144-strong field. On the back of his recent retirement, questions have been asked whether or not enough has been done to capitalise on Andy Murray’s glittering career in tennis and Matthew was asked if the same could be said in her case with women’s golf.

“Yeah, that's a really difficult question and I wish I knew the answer,” she admitted. “If people knew what more could be done, I think it would be being done. I know Scottish Golf and The R&A have programmes and are trying their hardest to get girls into golf. I think they just need to keep doing what they're doing. I think it's trying to get little groups of girls playing. Certainly from my experience if their friends will play, more of them, they'll play.”

Referring to her own daughters, Matthew added with a wry smile: “I'm obviously not the greatest role model because Sophie plays a little, but I wouldn't really say either of them play. But, when I was playing amateur golf, there was a really good group of players, and I think we all pushed each other on. Quite a few of us went on and turned pro and we all kind of pushed each other on the various tours. I think at every level you need little groups to kind of push each other on.”

For all her achievements in the game, most notably winning this event just 11 weeks after giving birth to second daughter Sophie, Matthew has never been the type to blow her own trumpet. The fact she’s gained the respect of the likes of Lewis, though, says it all.

“She’s meant a tremendous amount to women’s golf, especially here in Scotland, where, you know, we don’t have a ton of tour players coming out of here,” said the 2013 winner here and current US Solheim Cup captain, joking that was down to the weather as a heavy shower hit St Andrews during her appearance in the Media Centre.

“She's been such a tremendous competitor and to go up against her in the Solheim Cup and watch her be a leader there, and she's really become a leader in women's golf I feel like off the golf course and has helped us continue to grow. It's just a huge honour for me to get to play with her and also Karrie, someone that I've admired so much growing up.”