Lottie Woad’s goal forward of the AIG Girls’s Open was merely to make it by way of to the weekend, though she is going to now need to set new objectives after a formidable begin at St Andrews.
The Englishwoman marked her debut within the occasion with an excellent level-par 72 in sturdy winds on Thursday morning, then continued to exceed her personal expectations within the worst of the circumstances 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 move 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 instructed 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 taking part in stable, simply making an attempt to minimise errors.”
On why she thinks she made such a great 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 novice for the foreseeable future as she continues school in the USA, whereas Catriona Matthew – who can have her as a participant in Nice Britain and Eire’s Curtis Cup staff subsequent week at Sunningdale – is happy by her potential.
“I think she’ll be really important, just for the whole morale [of the team],” Matthew stated after lacking the lower 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.”
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 novice stardom
Woad has previous hyperlinks success within the 2022 R&A Women’ Novice at Carnoustie, the place she claimed a 7&6 victory to hitch an inventory of champions together with Solheim Cup captain Suzann Pettersen and former AIG Girls’s Open champions Anna Nordqvist and Georgia Corridor.
The Florida State College pupil has represented England in each the Arnold Palmer Cup and the Girls’s World Novice Group Championship, whereas she is anticipated to play a key function for Nice Britain and Eire towards the USA within the Curtis Cup later this month.
Woad made historical past in April when she gained the August Nationwide Girls’s Novice in dramatic trend, held on the residence of The Masters, birdieing three of her final 4 holes to say a one-shot victory and develop into the primary European winner of the occasion.
That victory secured invitations to 4 of the 5 majors this 12 months, with Woad making a direct impression 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 Girls’s Championship, Florida State Match Up and Collegiate Invitational at GCC this season, resulting in Woad develop into the primary Englishwoman to ever prime the World Novice Golf Rating (WAGR) earlier this summer time.
Additional main begins on the US Girls’s Open and Evian Championship have adopted forward of her look on the Residence of Golf, whereas Woad has gained the long-lasting Mark H McCormack Medal because the main lady novice in 2024.
The award ensures her exemptions into the US Girls’s Open and the AIG Girls’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’ll see on leaderboards commonly sooner or later.
Watch Lottie Woad in motion on the AIG Girls’s Open this weekend and the Curtis Cup from August 30-September 1 reside on Sky Sports activities. Stream the ladies’s majors and extra sport with NOW.