Two weeks in the past, Lottie Woad was the world’s No. 1 newbie. On Sunday, the 21-year-old Englishwoman turned an LPGA Tour champion in her skilled debut.
Woad received the ISPS Handa Ladies’s Scottish Open by three strokes, matching her age at 21-under par after closing with a 4-under 68 at Dundonald Hyperlinks in Ayrshire, Scotland.
“It is a fairly good consequence, I suppose,” Woad stated. “Undoubtedly wasn’t anticipating to win my first occasion, however I knew I used to be taking part in properly.”
Woad capped a exceptional month along with her fifth birdie of the day on the par-5 18th gap. She received the Ladies’s Irish Open on the Girls European Tour as an newbie three weeks in the past and missed a playoff by one shot the subsequent week on the Evian Championship main earlier than deciding to skip her senior season at Florida State and switch professional.
Woad, who held the lead after the second and third rounds, began sturdy Sunday with birdies at Nos. 2 and three. After 9 consecutive pars, she birdied Nos. 13 and 14 earlier than a lone bogey on the par-4 sixteenth.
“There aren’t that many scoreboards out, there to be trustworthy,” Woad stated. “… I knew it was in all probability fairly tight as a result of I used to be solely a pair underneath on the flip, however then after I had the 2 birdies early on the again 9, I might knew I might gotten a little bit of a lead by then.”
Woad matched the uncommon accomplishment by Rose Zhang, who in June 2023 turned the primary participant in 72 years to win in her LPGA Tour debut on the Mizuho Americas Open. Beverly Hanson received the Jap Open in her debut in 1951.
Woad collected $300,000 in her first professional payday and can carry a mountain of momentum into subsequent week’s fifth and ultimate main, the AIG Ladies’s Open at Royal Porthcawl in Wales.
“Making an attempt to simply be up there actually,” Woad stated of her expectations subsequent week after tying for tenth place final 12 months at St. Andrews. “That is all you possibly can ask for.”
South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim matched Woad’s 68 on Sunday to complete in solo second place at 18-under. She reached 20-under with a birdie on the 14th however fell again with consecutive bogeys at Nos. 15 and 16.
Spain’s Julia Lopez Ramirez shot the spherical of the day with a 7-under 65 to complete in a tie for third at 14-under with South Korea’s Sei Younger Kim (73), who closed with a pricey double bogey on the 18th.
“My recreation was in an excellent place, very constant,” Lopez Ramirez stated. “I performed underneath par each day. I feel actually that is a hit and rising my recreation, and I am excited for having the chance to play subsequent week and to indicate up once more.”
World No. 1 Nelly Korda (71) claimed fifth place at 13-under. Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen (76) started the day tied for second however slipped to sixth at 11-under after a triple-bogey at No. 18.