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Who is Lottie Woad? Former Florida State star wins women's Scottish Open in professional debut
English golfer Lottie Woad, 21, made her professional debut in the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open with an incredible three-shot win.
English golfer Lottie Woad, 21, made her professional debut in the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open with an incredible three-shot win. After completing at 21 under par at Dundonald Links, Woad won her first LPGA Tour championship in her professional debut. She is a rising star in women's golf owing to her dominant performance, which was capped by a final-round score of 68.
Woad closed with a 4-under 68 for a three-shot triumph, without faltering when Hyo Joo Kim charged on a windy day at Dundonald Links. In her professional debut, Woad became the second player in three years to secure a victory on the LPGA Tour, succeeding Rose Zhang at the 2023 Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National. With her final score of 21-under 267, Woad took home $300,000. "I think it’s quite hard to do that but very special to win in my first event. Everyone was chasing me today and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots,” she said.
After making four birdies in seven holes to start, Kim and Woad shared the lead after the South Korean made birdies on the eleventh and twelfth holes.
Woad remained composed, dropping just one stroke in the final round and making birdies on the 13th and 14th holes to take back control. She made birdie and celebrated quietly after finishing with a three-quarter wedge over a meandering burn to two feet. Her triumph will undoubtedly draw attention from all women's golfers.
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Who is Lottie Woad?
Three weeks ago, Woad clinched the Women's Irish Open on the Ladies European Tour, which put her at the top of the women's amateur rankings.
She was one shot away from a playoff in the LPGA major Evian Championship in France. The 21-year-old made the decision to become pro and skip her final year at Florida State after earning sufficient points for an LPGA card. Now that she has an LPGA title—the Women's Scottish Open is co-sanctioned with the LET—she is traveling south to Royal Porthcawl, Wales, for the Women's British Open.
Woad first gained notoriety last year when she dominated the Augusta National Women's Amateur by making birdies on three of the final four holes. She claimed that the pressure was greater than what she experienced during her professional debut. “I think Augusta, that was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win,” she said.
