After a close call at the Amundi Evian Championship, England's Woad makes her first appearance at this week's ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open.
Lottie Woad will make her pro debut this week alongside two of the biggest stars in the women's game – Nelly Korda and Charley Hull. The former top-ranked amateur turned professional last week after becoming the first to graduate from the tour's new LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway (LEAP) program.
After finishing one stroke shy of the playoff at the Amundi Evian Championship, England's Woad makes her first appearance at this week's ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open and will tee off on Thursday at 8:36 a.m. local time at Dundonald Links grouped with top-ranked Korda and compatriot Charley Hull, currently No. 19 in the world.
"Going to be fun couple of days," said Woad. "Obviously two players that I look up to, so it will be cool."
In addition to accepting LPGA membership, Woad also became a member of the LET following her emphatic six-stroke victory at the KPMG Women's Irish Open. She's now eligible for next year's 2026 European Solheim Cup team.
Woad leaves college golf with one year left of eligibility at Florida State. The sport management major was recently named the Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year. When asked whether she planned to continue her studies later this year or next spring, Woad said she hasn't yet decided.
"I need to speak to academics on that and decide whether I want to do that," she said, "because obviously I want to put a lot of my focus into this."
Rose Zhang continues to work on her Stanford degree after turning professional in the spring of 2023. Zhang has 40 units left in Palo Alto, California, and plans to take 20 in the fall and another 20 in the winter quarter, graduating in 2026. She has taken off the spring Asian swing the past two years to work on her studies.
After this week's event in Scotland and the AIG Women’s British Open at Royal Porthcawl in Wales, Woad's status gets her into the next string of domestic events on tour – plus Canada – and she'll make push to get into the fall's limit-field Asian swing.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Lottie Woad will make pro debut alongside Nelly Korda, Charley Hull
Category: General Sports