By: Max Bechtoldt
Lottie Woad, a sophomore at Florida State from England, won the fifth annual Augusta National Women’s Amateur Saturday by one stroke over USC’s Bailey Shoemaker.
If this week’s Masters has even half the quality of finish that we saw at Augusta National over the weekend, it’ll be a classic. Woad came into the final round with a lead after being the only player to shoot under par in each of the first two rounds. While Gia Clemente and Ingrid Lindblad appeared to be her toughest contenders, it was Shoemaker who was stealing the show.
Shoemaker shot the low round at Augusta National, with a -6 66. She birdied three holes on the front nine and three holes on the back nine with no bogeys. Her birdie on the iconic par 3 16th hole gave her the lead. She finished nearly an hour before Woad.
Woad hit the 17th tee needing birdie on each of the last two holes to win. Her power off the tee put her into position to get aggressive with the pins, as she hit really good approaches on 17 and 18. Her putts were most impressive though. With that level of pressure, playing on the biggest stage in amateur golf, she stepped up to the occasion.
With the win, Woad gets an invite to the next five ANWAs for as long as she remains an amateur. She also gets exemptions into four majors on the LPGA schedule, the Chevron, The U.S. Women’s Open, The Evian and The AIG Women’s Open.
