Lottie Woad enters the final round of her first tournament as a professional with a two-stroke lead at the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open in Ayrshire, Scotland.
The 21-year-old Englishwoman began Saturday at the top of the leaderboard and stayed there with a 5-under 67 at Dundonald Links, moving to 17-under with a round of six birdies and one bogey.
“I’ll take it overall, but I feel like I probably played better than I did the last two days,” Woad said. “Just didn’t really score too well. Gave myself a lot of chances. Happy with how I played tee-to-green. Could have maybe holed a few more putts.”
Sharing second place at 15-under are South Korea’s Sei Young Kim (66 on Saturday) and Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen (67). South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim (66) is in fourth at 14-under and World No. 1 Nelly Korda (70) is in fifth at 12-under.
Woad turned pro after finishing in a tie for third at the Evian Championship two weeks ago. She began the month with a victory at the Women’s Irish Open, where she became the first amateur to win on the Ladies European Tour since 2022.
Including her showing at the Evian Championship, Woad competed in seven majors as an amateur. She said her time in the spotlight prepared her for this moment.
“I had some experience sleeping on the leads … so yeah, I know what to expect and obviously there will be some nerves but looking forward to get going,” she said.
Woad was asked about the possibility of claiming a trophy in her pro debut.
“Yeah that would definitely be cool,” she said. “Obviously you can’t control what people are doing. I’m just going to try and play well, and if I play well, I’ll be happy tomorrow.”
Sei Young Kim’s round included an eagle at the par-5 14th hole and a birdie at the par-4 18th.
She has 12 career wins on the LPGA Tour but none since 2020.
“I’m waiting long time,” she said. “I’m still working hard and always, always goal is to reach and win the tournament. So yeah, we are all like working hard for this. We’ll see.”
Koerstz Madsen chipped in for eagle on the par-5 third hole and posted three straight birdies at Nos. 14-16.
“I need to go work on my driver right now,” Koerstz Madsen said. “I need that to work if I will have a shot tomorrow. So yeah, I’m going to spend half an hour on the range and hopefully it will work.”
South Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi moved into a tie for seventh at 8-under with a 7-under 65, the low round of the day.
–Field Level Media
