Amateur ace Woad shows superstar qualities in six-shot Women’s Irish Open victory
Lottie Woad following her win at Carton House. Picture Tristan Jones/LET
Superstars don't come along every day but Irish golf fans saw the arrival of one of the game's brightest new lights when English amateur Lottie Woad romped to a six-stroke win in the KPMG Women's Irish Open at Carton House.
The 21-year-old world amateur number one is no stranger to incredible feats, having spectacularly won the Augusta National Women's Amateur last year, followed up that performance by finishing in the top 10 in the AIG Women's Open at St Andrews.
Woad went into the final day with a seven stroke lead and while her advantage was reduced to five shots when she made just her fourth bogey of the week with a three-putt at the 15th on the O'Meara Course, she birdied the 16th and 17th to close with a four-under 69 and win by six strokes from Sweden's Madelene Sagstrom, who took the €67,500 top prize after a closing 68.
"It definitely means a lot," Woad said. "Obviously, I had a big lead coming in today, but I still had to focus as I was chased by some really good players. But yeah, happy to get it done.
Woad birdied the second and fourth and never looked like being caught on a day of occasional showers but only moderate winds.
"I felt pretty comfortable all day," she said. "I think as soon as I birdied the second hole, making a nice 12-footer there, that kind of settled me in and just hit a lot of good shots today."
She needs just two more points via the LPGA's new LEAP programme to earn her LPGA Tour card and can get them this week if she makes the cut in the Evian Championship and finishes in the top 25.
She will have to turn professional to be eligible to join the LET and earn a Solheim Cup place. But European captain Anna Nordqvist hinted in TV commentary over the weekend that she'd be surprised if the English star wasn't part of her team to face the USA in the Netherlands next year.
While it was a disappointing week for a jaded Leona Maguire, who closed with a 75 to finish joint 48th on level par, Elm Park rookie Anna Foster emerged as a star of the future.
After arriving in Co Kildare confidently after finishing joint fourth in the German Masters, the 23-year-old Dubliner closed with a 72 to tie for 12th on eight-under and move up to 26th in the Order of Merit after picking up €9,000.
Foster's card is now all but secure for 2025, and she was thrilled to stand her ground on the final day, where she was paired with Solheim Cup points leader Chiara Tamburlini and England's Charley Hull.
"I'm really happy with the week, really proud of myself with how I played today," said Foster, who believes she can now play with freedom after securing her card.
"It was new for me, playing in that type of group with Charley Hall, so I'm just happy in general with the week, with how I dealt with the pressure at the beginning of the week and managed to just keep in the present and focus on what I needed to at the time."
Despite her rise in the professional game, Foster insisted she's not tempted to try for her LPGA Tour card later this year.
"Pádraig Harrington had a little nugget where he said it's great to be a big fish in a little pond first before you decide to kind of jump to the LPGA," she said "I think where I am now, I'm really happy, and I want to be up near the top of the leaderboard."
Winning is her next goal, and seeing a former college rival win on tour is an indication that she has the game to do it.
"Winning is so hard out here at any level," she said. "The competition is so tough. But you see some girls go out and win and then they win again. Once you can do it once you get the freedom to be able to build the self-belief and self-confidence, I do believe that I can be up around the top of the leaderboard, and it's nice to be doing it now, the last few weeks."
Another Irish rookie, Canice Screene, closed with a joint best of the day 66 to tie for 37th on two-under, more than doubling her earnings this season as she earned €3,015.
"It's my best round on tour," said a delighted Screene, who chipped in for eagle at the fourth and fist-pumped as she brushed in a tricky five-footer for a closing par. "Five under was my previous best, so I am excited."
Foster's Elm Park club-mate, amateur Emma Fleming, was joint 54th on three-over after a final round 76, but a tired Maguire trooped off tied for 48th on level par after failing to make a birdie in a 75.
"I'm just exhausted," Maguire said after her fourth event on the spin. "There was nothing left in the tank today, and I drove it really nicely, just a lot of poor iron shots.
"I'm not going to read much into it, to be honest. It's been a long run and a very tiring week, so we'll dust ourselves off and go again next week.
"If this wasn't the Irish Open, I wouldn't have played this week."
Despite her struggles in Co Kildare, Maguire believes her game is still close.
"There were sparks of it this week," she said. "There were some nice patches of really nice golf, and then there was a lot of tired golf in there.
"So we'll take the positives from this week and try and bring as much of that into next week as best we can.. So I'll take the positives from this week, not read into too many of the tired shots, and see what we can do."
With Maguire failing the feature and the weather a mixed bag at Carton House, crowds were down on 2024 and while it will host again in the future, a new venue will likely stage the event in 2026.
