Golf: Cat eyes fresh Evian title bid

North Berwick’s Catriona Matthew will aim to change her fortunes at the Evian masters starting in France today. The 42-year-old has played in the tournament for 12 years but has only had one top ten.

This year, Matthew is joined in the field by the Scot who has really burst into the spotlight this season, Comrie’s Carly Booth. The 20-year-old followed in Matthew’s footsteps when she won the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies’ Scottish Open at Archerfield in May. She then added the Deutsche Bank Swiss Open the following month and also won a title in France on the Ladies’ European Access Tour.

With a £1.75 million prize purse, the Evian Masters is the richest event on the Ladies’ European Tour and, next year, it will become the fifth major alongside the British and US Women’s Opens and the Kraft Nabisco and LPGA Championships. Japan’s Ai Miyazato defends the title, aiming for a third win in four years. Also in the field is world No. 1 Yani Tseng and the South 
Korean winner of this month’s US Women’s Open, Na Yeon Choi.