Lottie Woad secured her maiden LPGA title in her first appearance as a professional as the 21-year-old closed out a three-shot victory at the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links.
“(It’s) very special to win in my first event, everyone was chasing me today and (I) managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots, which is nice”, said Woad who was a recent winner of the KPMG Women’s Irish Open as an amateur.
Taking a two-shot lead going into the final day, Woad held off Hyo Joo Kim, even trading places with the South Korean on occasion, and the win sees Woad become the third player in history to win on their first start on the LPGA Tour.
Woad carded five birdies and one bogey to finish her week at 21-under par, not bad for a first visit to Dundonald!
“(I’ve) Never been here before. The course is amazing, in great condition, and played different every day with the different wind directions. It was a nice challenge and everyone here has been so kind,” said the 21-year-old.
And what about her very low-key excitement on finally receiving a cheque (she missed out on approximately €500k following her Irish Open win and her third place finish at the Evian) …“I don’t even know what the winner’s cheque is. But yeah, I mean, a lot of people have obviously talked about me not winning any money.”
This weekend’s prize pot will now be the first Woad will get to indulge in and the English hotshot will take home $300,000.
Cavan’s Leona Maguire finished her weekend in a steady 16th place after a hot start in round one, but the 30-year-old struggled to reach that level of form again through the weekend, carding a one under 71 on the final day.
Similar to round three, Maguire struggled to score well but did enough to not score badly.
Two early birdies were the best the five-time pro winner could achieve, before adding a bogey to her card at the par-4 16th.
Hunting Woad for the final day was South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim who was well touch for the win coming into the final holes and seven birdies had Kim on Woad’s tail until she was undone on holes 15 and 16 by two costly bogeys. Leaving the stage clear for Woad to take the victory.
Another challenger, Nanna Koertz Madsen, was in the top three before a ball was hit this morning, and you could only imagine the 30-year-old wished it had stayed that way.
The Dane fell away as she carded a 4-over par round, taking her well out of contention and out of the top five, after a horror start and finish to the back nine, scoring a double bogey on the 10th and a triple bogey on the 18th.
Young Spaniard Julia Lopez Ramirez can thank a birdie packed back nine for her top three finish as the 22-year-old ended her week at –14.
“It was a really solid week for me and it’s the best finish this year, so I’m very happy. My game was in a very good place, very consistent. I played under par every day”, said Ramirez.
“I think honestly that’s a success, and I’m excited for having the opportunity to play next week and to show up again”, she added.
