For just the third time in the 75-year history of the LPGA Tour, a player won her debut as a professional as Lottie Woad won the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open by three strokes.
Early in the final round, it appeared world No. 1 Nelly Korda would be her most prominent chaser with four birdies on her first six holes. Korda’s putter hit a major cold streak though, leading to bogeys on 7, 10 and 11, effectively taking her out of serious winning contention.
Hyo Joo Kim, another major champion, was the next player to jump into winning position, with birdies on 10 and 11 to tie the lead at -19. Kim had some untimely struggles though on holes 15 and 16 making two bogeys right after Woad made two birdies of her own on 13 and 14.
Woad never hit those struggles. While everyone around her fell apart, the 21-year-old who turned professional last week showed an attitude well past her experience. Woad never once looked phased and didn’t make her first bogey until hole 16, when the event was essentially already out of reach.
Woad made five birdies on the day with only that lone bogey. Her wedge play in particular was spectacular, leading to a large amount of close approaches, which helped her have only 26 putts in the final round. For the week as a whole, Woad had only 113 putts over four rounds. Despite the trouble and trickiness that comes with a course like Dundonald Links, Woad made only three bogeys for the week.
Woad’s win was historic in the 75-year history of the tour. The first player to win an LPGA Tour title in their professional debut was Beverly Hanson in 1951 at The Eastern Open. Hanson went on to win 17 tournaments in her career, three of which were major championships.
After a long gap, Rose Zhang won her professional debut in 2023 at the Mizuho Americas Classic in a playoff over Jennifer Kupcho. Zhang has gone on to add one more win since then at the 2024 Founders Cup.
Woad will now enter the 2025 AIG Women’s Open likely as the unquestioned favorite. In her last three events she has finished with a win at the Irish Open on the LET, a third-place finish in the Evian Championship and a win here at the Scottish Open. There is no golfer in the world in better form than Woad.
