Grace Kim was the ultimate victor at the Evian Championship, but she wasn’t the only golfer in the field who finished the week with a bang.
Lottie Woad, the top-ranked amateur in the world, entered the week needing a top-25 finish at the year’s penultimate major to lock up a tour card via the LPGA’s Elite Amateur Pathway (LEAP). And after rounds of 68, 69 and 70 to open the week, she teed off in the final round in prime position to finish inside the top 25.
After a few holes on Sunday, it became clear Woad had her sights much higher.
“I knew starting the day I was only like five off [the lead], so I needed to have a quick start,” Woad said. “Then it was really just really fun after that.”
Woad birdied three of her first four holes to jump up the leaderboard early in the day, and she added another couple of circles to the scorecard before she made the turn. All of the sudden, it wasn’t a question of if Load would end the day with her LPGA Tour card, but rather if she’d be a major champion.
“I had a lot on the line this week, and going into today I knew what I needed to do,”Woad said. “That kind of changed after the front nine with what I was going for.”
The 21-year-old added three back-nine birdies to her total, but a bogey at the 14th and par on the reachable par-5 finisher eventually left her one shot out of the playoff between Jeeno Thitikul and eventual champion Kim. However, Woad’s final-round 64 was the second lowest round of the day and catapulted her into a tie for third, her best result in a major in her young career.
The T3 finish earned Woad her final necessary point for LPGA membership via the LEAP program and makes her the first woman to earn a Tour card through the program. But after being so close to a major title, the feelings from the week are bittersweet.
“It’s definitely a bit mixed,” Woad said. “I’m going to be thinking about one shot [on 18] probably for a while, but I’m very happy how I played today. Yeah, great week.”
As for what’s next, Woad said she does not know yet when she will turn professional. The Florida State rising senior can take her LPGA membership at any time for the remainder of the year, or she can defer and take up status after her senior season in Tallahassee.
“[I’m] just going to use next week at home with family and coaches to kind of discuss the options and then I’ll decide after that,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to play on the LPGA. Whenever that is it’s going to be really fun and I just look forward to playing all the events.”
