Matthew in two minds about Zika virus but is hopeful of Rio gold

By Jim Black

CATRIONA MATTHEW ended up in hospital after being bitten by mosquitoes the last time she played golf in Brazil. That was in 2010 when she returned to defend the HSBC Brasil Cup, an unofficial LPGA Tour event she won by five shots 12 months earlier.

But the 46-year-old North Berwick mother-of-two insists that the threat posed by the Zika virus won’t stand in the way of her Olympic dream.

However, Scotland’s top woman golfer says she won’t be surprised if a number of female athletes withdraw from this summer’s Rio Games after admitting that she would probably body-swerve Brazil if she was younger and planning on having more children.

Matthew said: “I am not going to have any more children so, in that respect I’m not worried, but for some of the younger ones who are hoping to have families, it’s definitely a concern, and I would be very concerned if I was at that stage of my life and probably seriously consider not going.

“It will be interesting to see what develops over the coming weeks. But I’ve spoken to a few of the others who are hoping to have children soon and they are certainly concerned and I understand that. I haven’t spoken to my doctor, but with the news reports coming out, you don’t know quite who to believe, as there are various reports from different organisations and it’s quite difficult to know exactly what the situation is. I’ve not had anything from the British Olympic lot about it, but no one seems to know the complete side effects or how long it stays in your body and that is worrying.”

Matthew has personal experience of the effect of mosquito bites can have after revealing: “I played in Brazil when I was pregnant with Sophie and then I went back to defend the title and actually ended up in hospital with bug bites.

“That was February time, and they say, at this time of year, it’s not quite so bad, but I would probably still wear long sleeves and trousers to protect myself.”

Matthew, who hopes to have clinched an Olympic place by the time she plays in next month’s Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open at Dundonald Links, added: “Winning a gold medal would be fantastic.

“For me, winning a Major would probably be just slightly ahead of it, but I loved watching the Olympics growing up and gold would certainly be right up there.”

Matthew must wait until after the US Open before she knows for certain if she will line-up alongside Charley Hull in Rio. But her 12th place finish at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in Seattle 11 day ago saw her jump nine spots in the world rankings while her closest challenger, Holly Clyburn slipped six places.

She said: “Obviously that was a good result, but I can still get knocked out, as there are four more tournaments to go. But if I can play well in the US Open, hopefully I’ll make it.

“I’m pleased with my level of consistency this season and to have been in contention. Although I’ve also had some poor last rounds my aim was to get into contention more and I feel I’ve done that.

“I’ve been working with Gary Nicol at Archerfield since the end of last year and we have been keeping it simple because I am not at the stage where I am going to change my golf swing. It’s about solidifying what I am doing.”

Matthew intends on staying in the Olympic village after explaining: “It’s going to be my only chance to be in the Olympics, I imagine, considering where I am in my career, so I am looking forward to experiencing it all, if I am lucky enough to get in.

“The ladies’ golf is the second week from the Wednesday to the Saturday and I am aiming to fly down the previous Friday and then hopefully go to a few events on the weekend.

“But I would probably miss the closing ceremony as I need to get to Calgary for the Canadian Women’s Open.”

Following the US Open, Matthew will play the Ladies Scottish and the Women’s British Opens back-to-back. But she expressed concern at a shortage of events in Europe, albeit, given her schedule, it doesn’t affect her a great deal.

However, she added: “For the LET it will be a concern as they’ve not had a lot of tournaments in the first half of the year although the second half looks better with events in the Middle East as well as China and India, and, hopefully they can build on that and get a few more in mainland Europe for next year. The newer events in the Middle East certainly have good prize funds and in an ideal world the minimum purse should be 400k, because with 250k purses it’s hard to justify going when you have to finish top four or five to cover expenses and make some money.”

Tagged Catriona Matthew, Graeme McDowell, Rio 2016, Rory McIlroy, Team GB