Nelly Korda, Lottie Woad and a host of other big names are in contention after the morning wave at the 2025 ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open.
World No. 1 Korda was paired with Woad, the talented young star making her debut as a professional, and they showed why much of the attention this week was focused on them.
Korda had a bit of a rollercoaster round one, making five birdies and two bogeys on the front nine, but that stabilized a bit on the back where she made two birdies and one bogey. Korda took advantage of the par 5s, making birdies on each of them, and got her ball striking under control after an uncharacteristic week at Evian. Korda hit 13/14 fairways and 16 greens on her way to shooting -4, one back of the current lead.
That lead is held in part by Lottie Woad, who is coming off a win on the LET and a top-three finish at the Evian Championship. In her debut as a professional she looked the part, shooting -5 with six birdies and a lone bogey on the 17th hole. She was fantastic on the approach, hitting 16 greens and giving herself great looks at birdie on a consistent basis.
Woad isn’t the only big name in a share for the lead, as Leona Maguire and Rio Takeda each shot -5 in the morning to get a share of that top slot. Nuria Iturrioz, who plays much of her golf on the LET, also joined them to round out the group leading early in the day.
Minjee Lee, who has been in fantastic form as of late, is also at -4 just one stroke back. Lee overcame a double bogey on the par 5 fifth hole, but looked great otherwise with seven birdies and only one additional dropped shot. Her putter was great once again and she hit 15 greens.
The first round is still finishing up, but this leaderboard is intriguing for the weekend moving forward.
