A change in venue did little to change Lottie Woad’s fortunes on the golf course.
After finishing up the two-day stretch at Champions Retreat on top of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur leaderboard, Woad kept the pace Saturday during the tournament’s final round and first day at Augusta National to become the first player from England to capture the ANWA crown.
Woad shot a three-round score of 208 at 8 under, and perhaps saved the best for the back nine stretch as she birdied her final four holes, giving her a one stroke lead over runner up Bailey Shoemaker and a full four strokes ahead of third place finisher Ingrid Lindblad.
Woad, a Florida State sophomore and the No. 4 ranked player in the world, came into Saturday with a two-stroke lead over the field, but was even par through the first six holes. She actually fell behind Shoemaker after bogeying on No. 13.
Her fortunes began to shift when she birdied at No. 15, then had consecutive birdies at holes 17 and 18, and her victorious comeback even defied her own logic.
“If I’d been told before this week that I’d be two back with four to play, I would have been like, ‘yeah, perfect, that sounds great,’” Woad said. “To be in the mix on the back nine at Augusta is something that everyone dreams about.”
Despite Shoemaker’s shortcoming, she still made ANWA history by shooting the first-ever bogey-free final round. She shot a six-under 66 and also holds the record for lowest final round in the tournament’s history.
As her day progressed, her body language seemed to match up with her momentum as she sped her walking speed up between shots, the further into the round she got.
“Just trying to keep it rolling,” Shoemaker said. “We’re on the clock. Just keeping it rolling. Not allowing myself to think about too much, what if, what would happen, but just being patient.”
Although she acknowledged a little heartbreak when she watched Woad sink her final putt, the Dade City, Fla. native said she was also satisfied with her performance and happy for her opponent.
“Good for her,” Shoemaker said regarding Woad’s final putt. “Especially under pressure, knowing she had to do it. That’s amazing. That’s awesome. I think super clutch. I’m obviously disappointed, but at the end of the day, I played about as good as I could have. Maybe a couple of putts could have dropped, but I made just about everything too. It is what it is.”
As for Woad, she says that final putt made her feel doubly good — not just because it clinched a win for her, but also because of the gratification that came with seeing her hard work pay off.
“I’m just a pretty competitive person,” Woad said. “So I obviously wanted to win. I feel like the confidence and stuff like that just comes from knowing you’ve put in the hours and knowing I’d practiced my putting a lot before this week because it’s usually a weaker part of my game. This week, specifically today, was probably one of the best weeks I’ve had on the greens, and thankfully it came at the right time.”
Beyond Woad’s triumph and Shoemaker’s near win, other ANWA returners saw improvement in this year’s Championship.
Lindblad became the first ANWA player to post three top-five finishes in the tournament while Gianna Clemente bested her 14th place finish in 2023 by tying for fifth this year. At 16 years old, she’s the first to post a pair of top-20 finishes in the Championship before reaching age 17.
South Carolina junior Hannah Darling finished seventh shooting a three-day score of 215 at 1 under. Darling could never recapture the groove that helped her top the first-round leaderboard.
Darling’s struggles on the greens —particularly in the third round — proved too tough to overcome.
“I feel like I played a lot better than my score,” Darling said. “Obviously I just shot level-par, but I played a lot better than that, I feel like. I just had a few putts that just didn’t drop.”
