Lottie Woad’s goal forward of the AIG Ladies’s Open was merely to make it by means of to the weekend, though she’s going to now must set new objectives after a powerful begin at St Andrews.
The Englishwoman marked her debut within the occasion with a superb level-par 72 in robust winds on Thursday morning, then continued to exceed her personal expectations within the worst of the situations within the second spherical.
Woad carded a front-nine 33 on Friday afternoon to succeed in the flip inside 5 strokes of clubhouse chief Nelly Korda, with the 20-year-old then closing a two-under 70 to go into the weekend in tied-Eleventh and eight photographs off the tempo.
“I want to just try and enjoy it, keep trying to make birdies and see how high I can finish,” Woad informed Sky Sports activities. “I think it played a little easier [compared to Thursday], the gusts weren’t as strong, but it was still a challenge.
“The placing was a bit simpler immediately, which was good. Feeling good, simply making an attempt to maintain enjoying strong, simply making an attempt to minimise errors.”
On why she thinks she made such an excellent begin, Woad added: ‘”I’ve got quite a bit of experience on links golf. Got those experiences of just playing knock-down shots which is kind of what I was doing the whole front nine, which if you don’t know how to do it’s a bit of a struggle when it’s into wind.”
Woad goes to stay an newbie for the foreseeable future as she continues faculty in the US, whereas Catriona Matthew – who could have her as a participant in Nice Britain and Eire’s Curtis Cup group subsequent week at Sunningdale – is worked up by her potential.
“I think she’ll be really important, just for the whole morale [of the team],” Matthew stated after lacking the reduce at St Andrews. “They’ve all played with her, they know they can beat her but they know she’s good. I think having that will just give them a bit more confidence as a team.”
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Former champion Catriona Matthew had a becoming send-off, birdieing her remaining gap at St Andrews in her final ever AIG Ladies’s Open look.
On what makes her so spectacular, Matthew added: “It’s just her all-around game. There’s no real weakness. The main thing is she’s mentally tough…someone who can dig deep and do it when they have to. There’s no huge rush [to turn professional], I don’t think. We all know golf you can have a long career. I think she’s enjoying college.”
Woad’s rise to newbie stardom
Woad has previous hyperlinks success within the 2022 R&A Ladies’ Beginner at Carnoustie, the place she claimed a 7&6 victory to affix a listing of champions together with Solheim Cup captain Suzann Pettersen and former AIG Ladies’s Open champions Anna Nordqvist and Georgia Corridor.
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We went right down to Lottie Woad’s residence membership to search out out in regards to the junior part that helped her fast rise by means of the ladies’s sport.
The Florida State College pupil has represented England in each the Arnold Palmer Cup and the Ladies’s World Beginner Workforce Championship, whereas she is predicted to play a key position for Nice Britain and Eire towards the US within the Curtis Cup later this month.
Woad made historical past in April when she received the August Nationwide Ladies’s Beginner in dramatic vogue, held on the residence of The Masters, birdieing three of her final 4 holes to assert a one-shot victory and change into the primary European winner of the occasion.
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Highlights of the Augusta Nationwide Ladies’s Beginner remaining discovered.
That victory secured invitations to 4 of the 5 majors this yr, with Woad making a direct affect when she completed tied-Twenty third – having been 4 off the midway lead – on debut on the Chevron Championship.
She has additionally recorded second place finishes within the NCAA D1 Ladies’s Championship, Florida State Match Up and Collegiate Invitational at GCC this season, resulting in Woad change into the primary Englishwoman to ever high the World Beginner Golf Rating (WAGR) earlier this summer season.
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Lottie Woad’s native golf membership rejoice her being the primary British participant to win the Augusta Nationwide Ladies’s Beginner.
Additional main begins on the US Ladies’s Open and Evian Championship have adopted forward of her look on the Residence of Golf, whereas Woad has received the long-lasting Mark H McCormack Medal because the main lady newbie in 2024.
The award ensures her exemptions into the US Ladies’s Open and the AIG Ladies’s Open subsequent season, no matter her weekend efficiency at St Andrews, with extra alternatives more likely to come Woad’s approach within the months and years forward. A reputation we are going to see on leaderboards recurrently sooner or later.
Watch Lottie Woad in motion on the AIG Ladies’s Open this weekend and the Curtis Cup from August 30-September 1 stay on Sky Sports activities. Stream the ladies’s majors and extra sport with NOW.
