ORLANDO, Fla. — The 2026 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions might mark Lottie Woad’s debut in the LPGA Tour’s season-opening event, but the Englishwoman has remained unfazed by her unfamiliarity with this tournament through 36 holes in Orlando, Fla.

The 22-year-old had an incredibly solid start to her week at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club, carding an almost blemish-free 5-under 67 that saw her make one bogey and six birdies on Thursday, two pairs of which came back-to-back on holes five, six, 13 and 14.

Friday’s second round was a bit quieter of a performance as Woad’s putter cooled off. She made seven straight pars before picking up her first birdie of the round on the par-4 eighth hole to move to 6-under, but Woad immediately erased that effort with a bogey on nine.

After making the turn, the former Florida State University Seminole then landed a one-two punch of birdies on the par-5 11th and par-4 12th holes to climb to 7-under with six holes remaining. Woad carded one last birdie on the par-5 15th hole to finish off her 3-under 69, a round-two score that ultimately put her in a tie for the lead with Lake Nona member Lydia Ko at 8-under overall, what is just the second time in Woad’s young tenure that she has held a second-round lead/co-lead.

“The first 15 holes, I was hitting everything inside of like 12, 15 feet,” Woad explained. “A lot of eight-footers for birdie and just didn't make them, which was really annoying. I just tried to keep playing well tee to green. Then holed a good par save on 16 and 17, so that kind of made me feel a bit better.

“I looked at the leaderboard quite a lot today because I was getting annoyed. Seemed like there weren't that many low scores out there, so knew I was still in it. The pins were probably a little trickier, so there weren't as many birdies as yesterday, so I just got to keep giving myself chances is all I could do. I was hitting good putts. Slight misreads here and there. I knew if I kept rolling it that some would go in.”

Even though Woad was a rookie in 2025, the 2026 season will mark her first full year as an LPGA Tour member. She secured status last July after earning 20 points via the Tour’s LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway (LEAP), a program now in its second year that provides the top amateurs in women’s golf an opportunity to qualify for LPGA membership using a points system that’s weighted based on their career accomplishments.

Woad’s journey to the LPGA ultimately wrapped up at the 2025 Amundi Evian Championship, where Lottie finished in a tie for third and one shot out of the playoff between champion Grace Kim and Jeeno Thitikul to collect the last points she needed to qualify for status through LEAP.

Then, after turning professional and joining the LPGA the next week, the Englishwoman became just the third athlete in history to win in their professional debut on the LPGA Tour alongside Beverly Hanson and Rose Zhang at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open, doing so by beating Korean major champion Hyo Joo Kim by three strokes at Dundonald Links in Ayrshire, Scotland. It was that triumph that earned Woad a spot in this week’s field at Lake Nona.

As she has looked ahead to a new calendar year and, like pretty much every pro athlete does before a new competitive season, Woad has set plenty of goals for herself in 2026, some of which include winning a major championship and contending for as many titles as she can throughout the year.

But as she enters what has promised to be a frigid and difficult weekend at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, the always-competitive Woad, who has proven several times over the last couple of years that she loves playing golf in hard conditions, likely now has one singular thought on her mind as she readies herself for the two rounds upcoming.

Lottie wants to win.

“It's going to be windy at least (on Saturday) and cold on Sunday, but I know I know how to play in the wind,” said Woad. “It'll be a challenge, but it'll be fun as well.”

Lottie Woad Looking for Second Win Over Weekend at HGV Tournament of Champions

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