Lottie Woad fired a round of 67 (-5) to take a two-shot lead into the last day of the 2025 ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links.
The English star held the 36-hole lead in Scotland and got off to a steady start before rolling in her first birdie of the day on the fifth.
Woad then made back-to-back birdies on the seventh and eighth holes and added another birdie on the 10th hole.
The former world number one amateur made a birdie on the 14th before only her second dropped shot of the week on 15, but she soon bounced back with a birdie on 17 to lead with a score of 17-under-par.
“I’ll take it overall, but I feel like I probably played better than I did the last two days,” said Woad. “I just didn’t really score too well. I gave myself a lot of chances. I’m happy with how I played tee-to-green. I could have maybe holed a few more putts.
“We’ve been pretty lucky with the weather so far. It’s not been too windy. I don’t know if it’s going to be different tomorrow. We haven’t had rain all week.
“There was a lot of attention kind of leading up with me trying to get my points, so this feels a bit more free now that I’ve got my [LPGA] card. I’m just going to try to shoot as low as possible and keep giving myself chances. If someone shoots the lights out, fair enough.”
Woad made her professional debut this week having secured her LPGA Tour card through the LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway (LEAP) after a T3 finish at the Amundi Evian Championship.
If she were to win, it would be the 21-year-old’s first LPGA Tour title but a second Ladies European Tour (LET) title after she won the 2025 KPMG Women’s Irish Open at the start of July.
The last time a player won on their professional debut on the LET was Singapore’s Shannon Tan at the 2024 Magical Kenya Ladies Open.
Woad continued: “I don’t think you can ever expect to be leading, but I knew my game was good and I was playing well the last month or so. I definitely hoped to be contending. I’m where I wanted to be.
“It would definitely be cool. Obviously, you can’t control what people are doing. I’m just going to try and play well, and if I play well, I’ll be happy tomorrow.
“There’s always nerves, but overall, I’m feeling good. I am excited for the opportunity, and I’ve got the experience from leading in Ireland and other events that I’ve been in. I’m just going to try and use that.”
Korea’s Sei Young Kim and Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen share second place on 15-under-par at the 54-hole mark.
12-time LPGA winner Kim fired a round of 66 (-6) with back-to-back birdies on four and five before a dropped shot on the eighth.
However, she bounced back with birdies on nine and 10 before she rolled in a long eagle putt on 14 and finished with a birdie on 18.
“It was pretty solid, today was a good round,” said Kim. “The last birdie helps for tomorrow and I had an eagle on hole 14 where I made a long putt. I was very calm today, I wasn’t up and down, even though I had a miss on some holes, I tried to reset and remain calm and stay focused again.
“[On her eagle] Depending on the wind direction, you can get an advantage from the tee shot, on the second shot I had 210 metres to the pin and tried to get it there.
“It’s been a while since my last win; I’ve been waiting a long time. I’m still working hard and always the goal is to win the tournament. We are all working hard for this, we will see.”
Denmark’s Madsen produced a round of 67 (-5) on day three, which included two bogeys, five birdies and a chip-in eagle on the third to be two shots behind leader Woad.
“It was fun most of the time,” said the Dane. “I would like to be 17-under like Lottie is, but it was fun. I had a couple of good bounces. A couple of nice putts there, I have been putting pretty well this week. Hopefully, I can do that tomorrow as well.
“Out here, it’s easier to concentrate on yourself because you still have the wind. It was not too crazy with the wind today, but you have that to focus on. I’m trying not to focus on Lottie and the other players, but obviously you still look sometimes at the leaderboard. I will just try and focus on my own game.
“I need to go work on my driver right now. I need that to work for me to have a shot tomorrow. I’m going to spend half an hour on the range and hopefully, it will work.”
Korea’s Hyo-Joo Kim is in solo fourth place on 14-under-par after a round of 66 (-6) with world number one Nelly Korda in outright fifth place on 12-under.
South Africa’s Paula Reto moved up the leaderboard on day three with a 66 to sit in sixth place on nine-under-par.
Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi fired the lowest round of the day with a 65 (-7) to sit alongside USA’s Sarah Schmelzel in T7 on eight-under with six players one shot further back in a share of ninth place.
In the race for next week’s AIG Women’s Open, South Africa’s Reto (6th), Spain’s Julia Lopez Ramirez (T9), and Thailand’s Arpichaya Yubol (T18) currently occupy the three qualifying spots with one round remaining.
The final round will begin at 8.55 am (local time) with the leading group teeing off at 10.56 am at Dundonald Links.
Follow all the action throughout on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram, TikTok and X, and Ladies European Tour on YouTube and Facebook – #WSO25
