Lottie Woad has won the Smyth Salver as low amateur at the AIG Women’s Open, where she finished on a highly impressive one-under for the tournament.
Woad began the event as one of five Amateurs, having earned her place at the Major thanks to victory at the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur and as the recipient of the Mark H McCormack Medal.
In the end, only one amateur, Chun Wei-Wu, missed the cut, but while Argentinian Ela Anacona finished T78, Swede Louise Rydqvist finished T60 and Spaniard Julia Lopez Ramirez finished T29, the English player excelled in a week of challenging conditions at the Old Course, St Andrews.
In fact, Woad was so impressive that she finished T10, after following up efforts of 72, 70 and 72 over the first three days with a final round of 73. When she completed her round, that left her just five shots behind the three leaders at the time, Jiyai Shin, Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko, while she finished four shots better off than her nearest rival for the Smyth Salver, Lopez Ramirez.
The achievement is the latest in a hugely successful year for Woad. As well as victory at the prestigious Augusta National tournament in April, the Florida State University player finished T23 at the first Major of the year, the Chevron Championship, before going on to play in the US Women’s Open and Amundi Evian Championship. Woad is also currently the top-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.
Afterwards, Woad reflected on her success so far this year, and admitted it had boosted her confidence. She said: "Yeah, yes, definitely. It's been really great for me confidence-wise. Getting to play in all these events, as well, and playing well in a few of them has definitely given me a lot of confidence going into my next year of college."
On her AIG Women's Open final round, she said: "It was good. I knew what I had to do the last few holes. Definitely played quite tough. So it was a little bit of a grind, but you know, got it done in the end."
Woad follows a long list of former Smyth Salver recipients who have gone on to forge glittering professional careers including Michelle Wie West, Anna Nordqvist, Danielle Kang, Lydia Ko and Georgia Hall. She is also the second successive English player to claim the salver after Charlotte Heath finished T61 in 2023.
