If you’ve watched her compete over the last few weeks on both the LPGA and Ladies European Tours, seeing Lottie Woad hoist the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open wasn’t too much of a surprise. The 21-year-old has been unstoppable in recent weeks, putting on a stellar show of form that made her victory in Ayrshire, Scotland feel like a foregone conclusion once she held a two-stroke lead after 54 holes at Dundonald Links.

A then-amateur Woad won for the first time in a professional event at the LET’S KPMG Women’s Irish Open on July 6 after beating two-time LPGA Tour champion Madelene Sagstrom by six shots in Ireland. The very next week, the Englishwoman threatened to pick up her first career major title at The Amundi Evian Championship, posting a 7-under 64 in the final round to finish just one stroke behind Grace Kim and Jeeno Thitikul, the pair of whom needed a playoff to decide a winner at the year’s fourth major championship.

And while a late bogey coming down the stretch in France was what ultimately took Woad out of the running, the T3 showing that she recorded at Evian Resort Golf Club gave Woad the two points she needed to qualify for LPGA Tour membership via the LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway, a new LPGA program that gives high-level amateur athletes a road to the Tour using a point system that is weighted based on their amateur accolades.

Both women’s golf fans and the LPGA Tour had been on “Woad Watch” since LEAP first began at the start of the 2025 season, anxiously waiting for the moment that Lottie would meet the 20-point threshold, and after her performance in just her second start ever at Evian, the now former Florida State University Seminole became the first player to earn LPGA status as part of the new initiative.

Woad announced she was turning pro and accepting the LPGA Tour membership she secured through LEAP on the Tuesday that followed The Amundi Evian Championship, which then made the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open, into which Woad had already played her way because of her LET victory, the young talent’s professional debut.

And Woad sure didn’t disappoint in her first start as an LPGA Tour member, impressively winning by three strokes with a four-day total of 21-under at Dundonald Links. She put on a masterclass in links golf throughout the week in Ayrshire, Scotland, never posting a score higher than 68 and even going as low as 65 in round two, staving off charges from players like seven-time LPGA Tour winner Hyo Joo Kim and Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda, the latter of whom was chasing her first win of the 2025 season.

But after the final scores were tallied, it was ultimately Woad who hoisted last week’s trophy, and if her recent performance is any indication, her Women’s Scottish Open win was the first of what’s likely to be many professional victories for the Englishwoman.

“I think it's quite hard to do that, but very special to win in my first event,” Woad said when asked about becoming a Rolex First-Time Winner in her pro debut. “Everyone was chasing me today, and I managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots, which is nice.”

According to KPMG Performance Insights, in her last three starts at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open, The Amundi Evian Championship and the Women’s Scottish Open, the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur winner is a combined 55 under par, has a scoring average of 67.3 strokes, has gained 4.83 shots total on her competitors and has only made bogey 7.4 percent of the time.

In simpler terms, Lottie has been playing some nearly flawless golf as of late, something she will be working to carry into the year’s final major championship, as the AIG Women’s Open is set to begin on July 31. This year’s event is being contested at Royal Porthcawl, what’s a brand-new venue to the female contingent, as the facility has never hosted a women’s stroke-play tournament on either the LPGA or Ladies European Tours.

Despite her limited experience competing on a professional stage, Woad is one of the favorites in the field at the AIG Women’s Open, thanks in large part to her victory in Scotland but also due to the T10 finish she recorded in this championship last year at the Old Course at St Andrews. That performance secured her a spot in the field this season, even before everything with LEAP played out, and now, riding a red-hot hand, Woad is hoping to contend once again in Wales.

“I feel good, obviously. I don't feel too different, to be honest. I got a lot of confidence from the last month, really. Just trying to continue to ride that,” Woad said in a pre-tournament press conference at Royal Porthcawl. She later continued, when asked about the pressure of continuing to perform at such a high level, “There's always pressure, obviously, but I don't think there's any more than there was, from my perspective, before any of the last few weeks. I still was wanting to contend there, and that's still the aim.”

The AIG Women’s Open will mark Woad’s first major championship as a pro and will be her ninth LPGA Tour start since April 2024. Momentum is a tricky thing to maintain in professional golf and can flee the premises as soon as an athlete seems to find even a glimmer of it for just the briefest of moments.

But the young Woad has managed to harness her recent solid form and continue applying it week after week to every challenge that’s been thrust in front of her thus far, so she should be well-prepared for what awaits in another links-style setting at Royal Porthcawl.

And considering her English heritage and vast amount of experience playing in firm, fast, windy conditions throughout her golfing lifetime, Woad just might find herself again adding to her top-10 tally rather quickly this week at the AIG Women’s Open.

Lottie, Whoa!: Woad Becomes Rolex First-Time Winner in Pro Debut at Scottish Open

Related Articles