Following an impressive T3 showing at The Amundi Evian Championship, amateur Lottie Woad has elected to turn professional and accept the LPGA Tour membership she qualified for via the LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway (LEAP).
The Englishwoman captured the 20th and final LEAP point she needed to earn Tour status on Sunday in Evian-les-Bains, firing a 7-under 64 in the final round to secure her first top-five result in an LPGA Tour major championship and finish one shot out of a playoff with eventual champion Grace Kim and Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul.
“It’s really cool,” said Woad about locking up Tour status following the final round at Evian Resort Golf Club. “It’s always nice to be the first to do something, so grateful that I had the opportunity to do it. Just relieved now. It was kind of wearing on me for a bit.”
After nearly becoming the first amateur to win an LPGA Tour major since Catherine Lacoste at the 1967 U.S. Women’s Open, Woad announced her intentions to turn pro via Instagram, posting a note on Tuesday, July 15 that shared the exciting news and thanked those in her inner circle for their support over the last few years of her amateur career.
“I am very excited to announce that I have decided to turn professional and will be accepting membership of the LPGA Tour,” part of Woad’s post read. “I’m delighted to have secured an LPGA Tour card through the LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway (LEAP). It has provided me with an amazing opportunity, and I will have full playing rights for the remainder of the year and the whole of 2026. I’m also really happy to accept membership of the LET for 2026, following my recent win at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open.”
Woad then continued on to thank her family; her swing coach, Luke Bone; Farnham Golf Club; Florida State University athletics; and England Golf.
The now former FSU Seminole is the first-ever amateur to earn her LPGA Tour card through the organization’s new LEAP program, which provides high-level athletes with a path to the LPGA Tour based on the accolades they accrue as an amateur.
The 2025 Amundi Evian Championship marked both her seventh LPGA Tour and major championship appearance, as Woad was given exemptions into all of the majors except the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship last year because of her victory at the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, a triumph that saw her become the first European to win the event.
Before playing in France, Woad had also competed in The Chevron Championship and the U.S. Women’s Open this season, only making the cut in the latter at Erin Hills Golf Course in Wisconsin.
Woad will have LPGA Tour status for the remainder of the 2025 season and all of 2026, and she will be seeded into Category 13 on the LPGA Priority List. The 21-year-old’s professional debut will come at the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open, a berth she earned as a result of her victory at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open on the Ladies European Tour the week preceding The Amundi Evian Championship.
She will then tee it up at the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl, a start Woad received because of her tie for 10th showing at last year’s tournament that was contested at St Andrews.
Beyond those two events, Woad’s LPGA Tour playing schedule for the rest of the year is still shaping up. She will be considered a 2025 rookie, bringing this year’s class to a total of 22 athletes.
