MAJOR winner Catriona Matthew has received a top prize recognising her more-than-25-year career in golf.

The World Golf Awards took place in Dubai, with dozens of awards recognising the best golf courses and tour operators from throughout the globe.

Matthew, of North Berwick, was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The 52-year-old won the Women’s British Open in 2009 and has also recorded top-five finishes in the Women’s PGA Championship and US Women’s Open during her career.

Matthew also played in nine Solheim Cups spanning from 1998 to 2017 and was on the winning side on three occasions.

Earlier this year, she also captained Team Europe to retaining the prize at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, having helped Europe win it at Gleneagles two years previously.

Matthew said: “Thank you very much to the World Golf Awards for this fantastic award I am receiving for lifetime achievement.

“I’m very sorry that I cannot be with you in Dubai but I hope you are all having a fantastic evening and enjoy your trip to Dubai.

“I’m actually here in North Berwick at the golf club where I grew up playing as a little girl and where I fell in love with the game of golf.

“I’ve been very fortunate over my career and lifetime to travel to many places and play golf all around the world.

“The Solheim Cup has been the highlight, probably, of my career, having played in nine and captaining the last two victories at Gleneagles and just at Inverness a few weeks ago.

“Another highlight is obviously winning the Women’s British Open in 2009 just 11 weeks after giving birth to my second daughter Sophie.

“I think it is when I look back on evenings like this and think about my career that I realise how much I have achieved in golf. Have a great evening and thank you very much again.”