Nelly Korda understands the spotlight. The World No. 1 is the main attraction at every event where she tees it up. She’s the headliner for this era of women’s golf.
But that spotlight was something Korda grew into; it wasn’t thrust upon her the second she arrived on the professional stage. There was always buzz about Korda, but it gradually built up over time to the place it is now.
That is not the case for Lottie Woad, the 21-year-old phenom who just turned pro after a T3 at the Evian Championship and won in her first start as a professional at last week’s Women’s Scottish Open.
“This is my 10th year on tour,” Korda said after last week’s third round when asked to recount her professional debut on the Symetra Tour. “Obviously, my professional debut was not as in the limelight like hers. But for her to succeed and to be leading the event is pretty special.”
Woad entered Sunday’s final round at Dundonald Links with a two-shot lead. The Englishwoman was unfazed when Hyo Joo Kim caught her as she made the turn on Sunday, responding with birdies at 13 and 14 to stroll to her first LPGA win. Woad joined Rose Zhang and Beverly Hanson as the only two players to win in their pro debut.
Korda played with Woad for the first two rounds in Scotland. While Woad’s talent is clear, something else struck Korda about the young star’s victory.
“Absolutely amazing,” Korda said of Woad on Tuesday ahead of the AIG Women’s Open. “I was very impressed with her composure, her process. I think, when it comes to her shot routine, especially under pressure and in the heat of the moment, sometimes people seem to fidget and kind of doubt themselves. But she stuck to it, she stuck to her process every single time, and I think that’s one of the main things that I noticed is how mature she is for her age and how comfortable she was in the heat of the moment.”
Woad admitted Tuesday that she was unaware Kim had caught her as she reached the back nine on Sunday. The lack of scoreboards at Dundonald allowed her to keep her focus on her own process, and once she made back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14, she regained her cushion and could steer it into the clubhouse for the win.
The 21-year-old rising star rarely broke a sweat during her Sunday cruise around Dundonald. Even when she tapped in to cement her win, she reacted like it was just another win — like she’d been doing this at this level for years.
“I felt pretty comfortable,” Woad said on Tuesday. “Like the last day, I was hitting a lot of fairways and a lot of greens, so it was pretty stress-free, to be honest. There wasn’t very many holes where I felt I was going to make bogey; I wasn’t in position to do that.”
Woad’s win, along with her T3 at the Evian and her win as an amateur at the Women’s Irish Open, has made her the betting favorite at the AIG Women’s Open Championship this week at Royal Porthcawl. That position would typically be occupied by Korda, who sees Woad as a threat despite the youngster’s relative inexperience at major championships.
“Golf is a game of confidence, and she’s definitely high up there right now, so she’s going to be trusting everything,” Korda said of Woad. “Yeah, her worst finish in the past three events is theoretically second or third. I think she’s also riding a confidence high too with how well she’s playing.”
Always humble and mild-mannered, Woad didn’t make much of the bookmakers installing her as the favorite. She understands it, given her recent run, but is also aware that all of that means zero when the balls go in the air on Thursday. The win in Scotland showed the world that Woad has arrived, but it was her final round in France at the Evian — a Sunday 64 that saw her finish one shot out of the playoff won by Grace Kim — that has her believing she can continue her run this week in Wales.
“Some of the majors that made the cut, I didn’t really have the best weekend on, so I was hoping to capitalize a bit more on that one,” Woad said of her final round at the Evian. “The final round was also very good. Yeah, it definitely gives me confidence in that and knowing that I can chase it down on Sunday.”
Even more eyes will be on Woad this week as she looks to continue her hot run and add a major title to her early career accolades. This week, the spotlight will be even brighter on the young English star, who will play the first two rounds alongside 2024 champion Lydia Ko and Lilia Vu. With the men’s major season wrapped up, the proceedings this week at Royal Porthcawl will be the focus of the golf world, with Woad at the center of the storm.
That’s something she’s prepared to deal with, even if she’s still learning how to handle everything that comes with being a star prospect who arrives in historic fashion.
“I think it’s still a learning process,” Woad said of handling the pressure. “I don’t think you can ever really fully handle it. I definitely feel like I’ve got a lot better at it. I just try and block out the noise as much as possible really.”
Her blinders worked perfectly in Scotland, something Korda noticed. They’ll have to be even better if she puts herself in contention over the weekend at Royal Porthcawl.
