"I tried to explain that my situation was a little different, but the USGA was having none of it."

John Huggan catches up with Catriona Matthew and while I hadn't paid much attention to her denied request for a pregnancy-related extension of her U.S. Women's Open this year, the USGA's justification for turning her down would be humorous if it wasn't so short-sighted and nonsensical.

As for her own on-course ambitions, Matthew suffered a set-back recently when the apparently myopic United States Golf Association turned down her request to extend by 12 months her exemption into this year's US Women's Open. Coming as it does only five weeks after she is due to give birth, Matthew won't be able to play.

"They turned me down, saying it would set a precedent they don't want to set," she shrugs. "Their thinking was that, if they gave it to me, they would have to give the same thing to men whose wives were having babies. I tried to explain that my situation was a little different, but the USGA was having none of it."

Still, despite America's oh-so stuffy (and male-dominated) ruling body being unable to tell the difference between men and women, Matthew is still hopeful of making a fifth Solheim Cup side come September. It's unlikely she will qualify as of right, but European skipper Alison Nicholas will surely recognise her need for Matthew's undoubted experience.