WOAD MAKES WONDERFUL START TO PROFESSIONAL CAREER

England’s Lottie Woad opened with a round of 67 (-5) on the first day of action at the 2025 ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open.

The KPMG Women’s Irish Open winner made her professional debut at 8.36 am (local time) alongside world number one Nelly Korda and English superstar Charley Hull.

It was a glorious morning at Dundonald Links with calm conditions, blue skies and sunshine as the locals turned out to watch the star grouping get underway.

“I will definitely take it, there was some good and some bad, but overall, it was pretty fair,” said Woad. “The last couple of holes were tricky with the wind, and I was just playing for pars. It was pretty stress-free most of the day.

“It was great. A lot of crowds today, which was nice, especially teeing off so early. Everyone in our group played well, so we could feed off each other a little bit.”

*Nelly Korda of the USA with Lottie Woad of England during the first round*. *Credit: Mark Runnacles/LET.*

Woad began with a birdie at the second before making another on the fifth and seventh holes in Scotland.

She rolled in back-to-back birdies on 10 and 11 before adding another on 14, and the 21-year-old dropped her only shot of the day on 17 to sit in a share of first place on five-under-par.

“I think the best birdie was probably on hole two, it settled me down. I holed a nice 15-footer and was away from there,” she continued. “On 11, I didn’t hit it very good, and I looked away but it was nice to kick in and make birdie.

“I’m just trying to keep as much momentum as possible and keep playing how I was playing. It worked today so just try and do that again the next few days. It didn’t feel too different today. I think having all the experience I’ve had in majors and contending, gave me all I needed and didn’t really have to change much.”