Cheyenne Woods will make her debut in the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open at Dundonald Links in North Ayrshire this week – and the American says she’s slowly adjusting to the time zone and weather.
There are mixed forecasts for the tournament, including wind, rain and highs of 16C, or 61F on the Scottish west coast.
Woods said: “Back in the US it’s real summer. Where I live in Arizona, It’s like 110 degrees every day. This is like our winter so it takes a bit of adjustment with four layers on.”
It’s her first visit to Scotland since she attempted to qualify for the Ricoh Women’s British Open at St Andrews in 2013. This time, she has two more chances to qualify for the major championship taking place next week at nearby Turnberry.
The winner of the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open and the top three players who have already entered and who are not otherwise exempt will gain an entry into the Championship. Otherwise, there will be a trip to Final-Qualifying at Irvine Golf Club on Monday.
But since winning the RACV Ladies Masters in Australia 18 months ago, Woods believes that her game her improved. “The last year and a half has been really good. It’s gone by really fast. Since my win in Australia I played a year on the Symetra Tour in the US and earned my LPGA Tour card and have been playing on that this year. I feel I have progressed, and my game has got much better.”
Now in her third year on tour, Woods, who will turn 25 on Saturday, also feels that it’s time to lose the ‘niece of Tiger Woods’ moniker. “As I turned professional, I expected to be asked about him a lot because I was new to the scene. That might have been all people knew about me. But as I’ve been out here it’s been nice to have people starting to see me as an individual rather than the link to Tiger.”
Admitting that it was tough to see him struggle in The Open Championship last week, she added: “That’s golf sometimes and it even happens to the best players in the world. Amateurs, professionals we all have those moments where you have it one day then the next it just disappears. It is difficult to see him struggle because I grew up watching him at the top of his game every single weekend. When you watched Tiger Woods’ highlights it is amazing to see what he was able to do and also the energy brought to the course was different to anyone else. I miss that and I’m sure other people do also.”
