If one story can epitomise what makes Lottie Woad the most prodigious talent in British golf since Rory McIlroy, the hours after her victory at the Scottish Open in July are a good place to start.
Ordinarily, a 21-year-old who had just won by three shots on their professional debut and claimed £223,000 in prize money might be inclined to celebrate a little overenthusiastically. Such was Robert MacIntyre’s hangover after he won the men’s event last year, he was forced to postpone his press conference at the Open Championship the following week. But shortly after Woad had lifted the trophy, Nigel Edwards, the performance director at England Golf, received a text telling him to be ready for practice at Royal Porthcawl, nearly 500 miles away, at 11am.
“Her father was driving but they didn’t get in until 1.15am. After you’ve won your first event [as a pro], you’ve probably got a lot going on in your mind, but she only focused on doing all of her drills,” Edwards says. “Lottie wasn’t frightened of being successful. Some people step into that kitchen and it’s a bit hot and their heart beats a little bit too fast. I think she relished it.
“Winning the Scottish Open heightened what a lot of people would see as pressure. I don’t think she ever saw it that way. She saw it as a matter of course for her. That tells you a lot about somebody.”
Woad won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur last year
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In terms of British sporting breakthroughs this year Woad’s success has been virtually unrivalled. In July alone she won the Irish Open by six shots before finishing third at the Evian Championship — one of the five women’s majors — a week later while still an amateur. After turning professional and immediately winning the Scottish Open Woad was installed as the favourite at the Women’s Open, where she ultimately finished eighth. As of this weekend she is already ranked as high as No11 in the world, despite only playing in 14 ranking events.
“I’m kind of normalised to the amazing things she has done but it is ridiculous if you zoom out from it,” says Luke Bone, the head professional at Farnham Golf Club in Surrey, who has coached Woad since she was seven. “Tiger [Woods] had a pretty good start to his career and even he didn’t win his first event [as a pro] and go on that run on that transition from amateur to pro.”
Karen Stupples, a two-times winner on the LPGA Tour, goes one further. “There’s no question [she’s the greatest British talent since Rory],” she says. “A future world No1 is something that I’m expecting. We have talented players like Charley Hull and Georgia Hall, but they haven’t got there.
“When I look at Lottie, her skillset and the way she goes about her work, it is just so disciplined and I can totally see her in that position, and I think it’s great for UK golf that we have this opportunity. Obviously we have it with Rory. Now we have it from a female perspective.”
Woad was a talented footballer as a youngster – the Lionesses’ loss has been golf’s gain
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The irony is that, if it were up to Woad, she might have been a professional footballer instead. An ardent Leeds United fan, she played for Southampton’s academy side until she was 12. “I’d have been very happy playing for the Lionesses. I love any sport which involved a ball but in the end I had to make a choice,” she said earlier this year.
By that age Woad’s golfing potential was already obvious. “She shot level par off about a six handicap in a competition at Blackmoor Golf Club [in Hampshire]. You could sort of see her then think, ‘Hang on, I can do this,’” Bone says. “She was a notorious hard worker. Some of the traits she is famous for — commitment, determination, competitiveness — all really started to come out about that age, and she didn’t like to get it wrong.”
Woad can seem shy but those who know her best point to a dry sense of humour and a fierce hatred of losing. Bone still recalls one exhibition-style match he played against Woad at Farnham when she took issue with the length of time he took to find his ball on the deciding hole.
“It hit a tree and was on the other side [of the fairway]. The club captains said it was fine, but Lottie still says she beat me because it should’ve counted as lost,” he says, laughing. In the run-up to the Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl this summer, where Edwards happens to be a member, he too won their match on the 18th. “Her father made her have a picture with me holding my finger up as in a 1-up victory. That particularly irritated her, and it still does,” he says.
Stupples cannot remember such excitement about a female golfer since the era of Michelle Wie West and, later, Lydia Ko
AP PHOTO/KIN CHEUNG
Woad enrolled at Florida State University in 2022 but continued to work with Bone and maintained close ties to England Golf. Two years later she won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur with Steven Robinson, the lead women’s coach, as her caddie. A supreme driver of the ball, Woad’s wedge game and putting were at one stage considered her weaknesses, but three birdies in the closing four holes on one of golf’s most iconic stretches confirmed she was the complete package and, a few months later, Woad completed her ascent to No1 amateur in the world.
“From my point of view it was amazing how calm she was,” says Robinson, who compares Woad’s work ethic to another of his pupils, Matt Fitzpatrick. “They are never just going through the motions. Every shot in practice has a purpose and with a game-like intensity.
“The two things that weren’t her greatest asset as a young amateur have become pretty strong weapons in the professional game. Charley [Hull] was a natural talent. Lottie’s talent is in slightly different areas: her work-rate, her ability to take on information. She’s made herself into a great player.”
Stupples cannot recall such excitement about a female golfer since Michelle Wie West and later Lydia Ko turned professional aged 16. “You just expected Michelle to do it and I think we just expect Lottie to do it,” she says.
Nothing is ever guaranteed — it took almost a decade for Wie West to finally land her sole major title at the 2014 US Open — but the consensus is that, in Woad, Britain has a prodigy with the ability and aptitude to dominate the game in years to come.
“If you’re going to truly be the best in the world, you have to really love what you’re doing. She definitely has that,” Stupples adds. “It’s always a surprise when somebody comes straight out and wins so quickly. You knew she had the talent but it’s never as easy as that. But Lottie makes it look very easy.”
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