AUGUSTA, Ga. — If you ever find yourself standing at Augusta National Golf Club, listen closely. As the breeze rustles its way through the leaves of the magnolias, tickling the needles of the loblolly pines, you’ll hear the trees whisper to each other.

Many of them have been here for every historic moment that has ever happened on these hallowed grounds, have watched boys become men and men become legends when a pine-colored jacket is draped across their shoulders. The trees have seen every shot struck and every putt holed en route to life-changing victory over the years, and they talk, regaling one another with stories about bygone champions from the Aprils of the past.

More recently, the trees have welcomed a group of young women to golf’s Valhalla and now have a new slew of winners on which to reminisce. Lottie Woad’s was the latest name the loblollies learned after she won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur last year, but if the Englishwoman has anything to say about it, Augusta’s towering pines won’t need to worry about remembering a new one after Saturday’s final round.

Woad’s life changed when she won this event in 2024. Of course it did. Just ask anyone who has ever hoisted a trophy on this plot of land tucked away off Washington Road that is perpetually untouched by the passage of time. The Tigers and Arnolds and Jacks and Hogans will tell you that there’s nothing like winning at Augusta National Golf Club. Few accomplishments could ever stack up. And now that she’s done it, Woad would agree.

“It was crazy. Just from the moment the putt went in, and we were so busy after. I didn’t get a chance for it to sink in straight away,” Woad recalled ahead of this year’s ANWA. “But I had my parents there and other friends and family, so it was definitely special and definitely life-
changing. So many people watch the event, and it’s so well covered, so a lot of people
knew about me after that.”

While she wasn’t a complete unknown in the world of amateur golf, Woad was a bit of a surprise champion last year. She had fared well over the first two rounds at Champions Retreat, but anything can happen at Augusta National, and the two-stroke lead she carried into the final day didn’t feel like it gave Woad any sort of immeasurable advantage. Leads at this venue ebb and flow like the waters of Rae’s Creek after a warm April rain, and as soon as a player begins to feel even a slight sliver of confidence coming down the stretch, the golf gods often send along a heavy dose of perspective to remind the self-assured of the difficulty of what they are trying to do.

Bailey Shoemaker gave a steady and persistent chase throughout the final round, throwing everything she could at the unflappable Englishwoman, including a record-setting 66. But Woad remained unfazed and birdied three of her final four holes to capture the biggest tournament title of her young life, one that thrust her into the heat of the spotlight as her name was added to an elite list of champions who have triumphed on the grounds that Bobby Jones built as the first European winner of what’s become one of the most highly-touted events in all of women’s golf.

“It's pretty cool. I don't think it's really sunk in yet,” Woad said in her winning press conference last year. “I finished my round not that long ago, so I'm still kind of getting back in the moment here. It's really cool to be standing in the same place as the Masters champions have stood and following in their footsteps a little bit.”

Now, Woad has another opportunity to make history.

Through two rounds at the 2025 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, the Florida State University junior is tied atop the leaderboard at 9-under alongside Kiara Romero. For some, that position would unleash a never-ending pit of butterflies in the gut, nerves that bring a drip of sweat to the brow unrelated to the stifling humidity of the muggy Georgia air.

But if you look at the past winners of this event – the Jennifer Kupchos and the Rose Zhangs and the Anna Davises, even Woad herself – they all have one thing in common: they’re unbothered by the magnitude of the moment. And it’s that serenity, that accept-everything-as-it-comes attitude that could lend itself to a title defense for Woad, making her the first ANWA champion ever to win back-to-back and putting her among a small group of athletes who have successfully defended a title at Augusta National, a list that only otherwise includes Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods.

Not to mention, she would earn exemptions into four of the five upcoming major championships on the LPGA Tour and pick up two points in the new LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway program, which provides young athletes an opportunity to earn LPGA Tour membership by accruing points based on their amateur achievements. Two points would put the 21-year-old within two points of the 20-point threshold she needs to meet to earn status.

But those are the spoils. There are still 18 holes and a slew of excellent competitors standing between Woad and another life-changing victory. No one knows what will play out on Saturday afternoon or how the next Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion will be crowned.

There’s sure to be some drama, some emotion, some goosebump-giving roars from the patrons wandering the grounds as excellent shots skillfully find their targets on some of the most iconic holes in the game. There might even be a few groans when balls slip back into bunkers or kerplunk into water hazards, sighs of disappointment from one of the most empathetic and knowledgeable crowds in all of golf.

But no matter what happens, the trees will be watching, craning their necks to get a glimpse of the action, wondering who they will be whispering about until the next April approaches.

Lottie Woad Looking for Another Life-Changing ANWA Victory at Augusta National

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