Yamashita completed an 11-under par total of 277 to land her first win on the LPGA<\/a> and while some viewed the result as a shock she was ranked 15th in the world at the start of the week off the back of 13 wins in her homeland since turning professional in 2020. It would be no surprise if this major win was the first of many.<\/p>\n Early in Sunday\u2019s final round, England\u2019s Mimi Rhodes, who finished T19th, completed a remarkable hole-in-one at the 184-yard par-3 fifth. Her partner, Australia\u2019s Stephanie Kyriacou, had made an ace of her own at the eighth hole in the second round and on this occasion knocked her tee shot to within inches of the hole. Rhodes\u2019s effort then went in-off Kyriacou\u2019s ball.<\/p>\n If Yamashita was the champion, England\u2019s Lottie Woad<\/a> was the golfer who drove most conversations through the week.<\/p>\n The 21-year-old can\u2019t remember what she was doing on the first day of July, but essentially she was a student on her summer break. On the last day of the month, in contrast, she started the first round of the final major championship of the year as the clear bookies favourite.<\/p>\n It goes without saying that in between she didn\u2019t go Interrailing or work in a coffee shop. Instead, she won the Ladies European Tour<\/a>\u2019s Irish Open<\/a> by six shots and the LPGA\u2019s Scottish Open<\/a> by three strokes \u2013 the former as an amateur, the latter as a professional.<\/p>\n It was an astounding spell of golf, possibly the greatest farewell to the amateur game, and hello to the professional ranks, in British golf history. That she was disappointed with her performance at Royal Porthcawl, and still finished tied eighth, says everything about both her talent and desire.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Woad was disappointed with eighth at the AIG Women’s Open (Getty Images)<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the first time that an Englishwoman has announced herself to British golf in spectacular fashion on the shores of the Bristol Channel. In 1933, at Royal North Devon, Gloria Minoprio wowed her peers when contesting the English Ladies Championship with nothing more than a 2-iron.<\/p>\n Onlookers, meanwhile, were agog that she stepped straight from a Rolls Royce to the first tee wearing a blue-black pair of trousers. Albeit briefly, she became a nationwide sensation for being the first women golfer to compete in something other than a skirt.<\/p>\n Minoprio and Woad are significantly different characters. Where Minoprio was flashy and, indeed, a flash in the pan, Woad is unfussy and likely to be around for a very long time.<\/p>\n Nigel Edwards, who worked with Woad in his role as England Golf\u2019s Performance Director, is cautious and yet cannot hide his admiration of her straightforward nature and the quality of her driving which, he says, \u201cConsistently provides her with the opportunity to score.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHer potential is immense,\u201d said BBC golf correspondent Iain Carter. \u201cShe is great from the tee, makes very few unforced errors, her chipping is extraordinary, and her putting under pressure is first rate.<\/p>\n \u201cMost significantly of all, she has the temperament, the determination and the competitiveness to make the most of her talents and to enjoy doing so. She appear to have a genuine appetite for winning at the top level.\u201d<\/p>\n Woad was not the only youngster to enjoy a stellar July. The Australian Grace Kim went eagle-birdie-eagle to win the Evian Championship, her first LPGA title. The 24-year-old\u2019s compatriot, Minjee Lee, is something of an older sister figure to her and understands that both Kim and Woad are yet to fully appreciate the extent to which their lives have changed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s probably too close to the wins and they\u2019re still on a high,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen they\u2019ve had a little time off it will begin to sink in.\u201d<\/p>\n Now a three-time major championship winner, Lee was a phenomenon herself, winning twice on the LPGA before her 20th birthday. She remembers that time as \u201csomething of a blur\u201d and expects Woad may feel the same. She also remembers riding the wave. \u201cIt felt like go, go, go,\u201d she said and encouraged Woad to take a similar approach. <\/p>\n There\u2019s a palpable sense that British golf is engaged in a tricky balancing act, weighing giddy excitement against unreasonable expectations.<\/p>\n![\"Woad](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2228320522.jpeg\")
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