Staff WriterIf the windswept fairways of Dundonald Links could talk, they’d probably still be whispering Lottie Woad’s name. The 20-year-old from England stormed into the record books on Sunday with a final-round 68 to capture the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open – and if you’ve never heard of her before, well, you have now.
In her first professional start as an LPGA Tour member, Woad not only held off a field of hardened veterans, she did it with all the grace of a pub landlord on last call: firm, focused, and utterly unfazed.
Yes, the Women’s Scottish Open has seen its share of drama over the years, but this? This was special. Woad became the first Englishwoman to win the event, the first player to win in her Tour debut since Jin Young Ko in 2018, and only the ninth in history to do it on her first go-round as a professional.
Her 21-under-par total tied Ayaka Furue’s 72-hole scoring record at Dundonald Links, and she was the only player all week to post four rounds in the 60s. Not bad for a rookie who still smells like Florida State’s locker room.
“Yeah, I think it’s quite hard to do that, but very special to win in my first event,” Woad said, in a moment of understatement that belongs in a museum.
“You know, everyone was chasing me today, and [I] managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots, which is nice.”
She sure did. On Sunday, Woad recorded five birdies and just one bogey, hitting 11 of 14 fairways, 13 greens, and needing just 26 putts to get the job done.
Over four rounds, she logged 113 putts – only one of them a three-putt – and tied for the most birdies in the field with 24. That’s not a win. That’s a statement.
It wasn’t a walkover, though. Hyo Joo Kim kept things interesting with her own final-round 68 to finish three strokes back. Kim, a perennial contender, birdied holes 5 through 7, then tacked on two more at 10 and 11. But late bogeys at 15 and 16 clipped her wings just enough to keep Woad’s lead intact.
For Kim, it’s her fifth top-10 of the season, her second runner-up finish, and her second time playing bridesmaid at the Women’s Scottish Open, having also finished second in 2023.
Had she won, Kim would’ve been the LPGA’s first two-time winner of 2025. Instead, she settled for another silver medal and another suitcase full of “what-ifs.”
Two players tied for third at 14-under: the always-dangerous Sei Young Kim and breakout rookie Julia Lopez Ramirez.
Kim’s week was highlighted by a trio of eagles – yes, three – making her the only player to do that in a single event since 2021. Meanwhile, Lopez Ramirez posted a final-round 65, her career-low on the LPGA Tour, to punch her ticket into next week’s AIG Women’s Open.
“Yeah, it was a really solid week for me and it’s the best finish this year, so very happy,” said Lopez Ramirez, who clearly didn’t spend her rookie season reading the manual.
“I played under par every day. I think honestly that’s a success and growing my game, and I’m excited for having the opportunity to play next week.”
Sei Young Kim, still grinning despite coming up short, summed up links golf like a woman who’s spent too much time battling coastal gales: “AIG, wind, how to control the wind. But I cannot handle it. But I just embrace the winds… That’s the big deal.”
Amen.
Back in fifth was world No. 1 Nelly Korda, who carded a rollercoaster 71 with six birdies and five bogeys. She lit it up early with four straight birdies on holes 3 through 6, only to come back down to earth with a hat trick of bogeys between 7 and 11. Still, she finished with a birdie and her fifth top-10 of the season – not bad for someone making her Women’s Scottish Open debut.
Defending champion Lauren Coughlin showed up with a final-round 67 to sneak into a T10 finish. While she may be handing over the trophy, she walks away with her first top-10 since the JM Eagle LA Championship and a second chance to defend a title later this summer at the CPKC Women’s Open.
Let’s talk records. Woad’s 199 through 54 holes broke Lydia Ko’s tournament mark, and her 267 total tied Furue’s 2022 record.
Her victory also makes her the 20th different winner on the LPGA Tour this season – a testament to the strength and depth of the women’s game.
This is no fluke. Woad came into the Women’s Scottish Open hot off a T3 at the Evian Championship, where she earned her LPGA status via the Elite Amateur Pathway.
Prior to that, she won the KPMG Women’s Irish Open on the LET as an amateur. Collegiately, she was a standout at Florida State, racking up more accolades than a Royal Navy battleship: ACC Freshman of the Year, WCGA All-American three times, and the Golden Nole Female Athlete of the Year.
And now? LPGA winner.
“Only knew on 18 or 17, I saw that I had two shots. Kind of assumed [Kim] would birdie 18 but then found out she didn’t,” Woad said of her final stretch. “Only had like 170 but just laid up and then pitched on.”
Laid up. Pitched on. Won the damn thing.
The Women’s Scottish Open has long served as a litmus test ahead of the AIG Women’s Open, and if Woad’s play is any indicator, she’s not just passing – she’s rewriting the questions.
England has its next star, and the LPGA has its newest sensation. Something tells me this won’t be the last time we see Lottie’s name atop the leaderboard.
And if you blinked? Well, you just missed the birth of a legend.
