Fresh off a sensational victory at last week’s ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open, England’s Lottie Woad has made a flawless start to her professional career, where she claimed her first title in her debut appearance.
The victory marked her second Ladies European Tour (LET) title, adding to her earlier triumph as an amateur at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open.
The 21-year-old makes her major championship debut this week at the AIG Women’s Open as a professional, returning to familiar ground where she made headlines last year as an amateur with a T-10 finish.
Woad made the long car journey from Scotland down to Wales on Monday with her family, and looks ahead to the next test at Royal Porthcawl.
Heading into this week, she said: “I feel good obviously. I don’t feel too different, to be honest. I got a lot of confidence from the last month so just trying to continue to ride that.”
The two-time LET winner came close to a playoff at The Amundi Evian Championship. “Some of the majors that I made the cut, I didn’t really have the best weekend on, so I was hoping to capitalise a bit more on that one [at Evian]. The final round was also very good. It definitely gives me confidence knowing that I can chase it down on Sunday.”
Commenting on this week’s course, she said: “I think it will be a really good test this week. We’ll see; weather is always a factor in links golf. I think par is a good score, and then you’ve got to take a chance on the par-5s really.
“There are a few holes that are kind of blindish. You’re aiming over the gorge, and you don’t think that’s right, but it is the right line. It’s nice to know that before the practice round.”
From being world number one amateur to now an LPGA and LET member, Woad has been on a journey the last 15 months. “I think it’s still a learning process. I don’t think you can ever really fully handle it. I definitely feel like I’ve got a lot better at it. I just try and block out the noise as much as possible really.
“I’ve really been just enjoying myself. Enjoyed being in these events and competing and being in contention, just try to have fun with it and not add too much stress really.”
At last week’s ISPS Women’s Scottish Open, she was in a group alongside world number one Nelly Korda. Korda described Lottie as absolutely amazing. Commenting on that, Woad said: “It’s really cool. It was great for me that I got to play with Nelly my pro debut. She’s someone I’ve always looked up to. She’s obviously an amazing player and a great competitor, and to hear she said something like that is really nice.”
Woad will tee it up in round one alongside defending champion Lydia Ko and 2023 champion Lilia Vu.
You can follow all the action throughout the tournament on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram, TikTok and X, and Ladies European Tour on YouTube and Facebook – #aigwomensopen.
