Lottie Woad leads Scottish Women's Open by two shots in pro debut
In-form English star cards bogey-free seven-under-par 65 in second round at Dundonald Links
Lottie Woad leads and Nelly Korda is up there, too. Add in the likes of Leona Maguire, Lauren Coughlin and Georgia Hall plus a posse of Koreans and the stage is set for a cracking last two days in the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links.
As Charlotte Laffar discovered, golf, particularly so on links courses, can be cruel. The English player had led after an opening 66 at the Ayrshire venue, yet she didn’t make it through to the weekend. A second-round 82 left her making an early exit.
Mimi Rhodes, a three-time winner on the LET in her rookie season, also missed the cut, as did Helen Briem, the tall young German who looks set for a bright future in the professional ranks despite this disappointment.
Gemma Dryburgh, meanwhile, was left to fly the Saltire after Hannah Darling and Lorna McClymont came up short in the battle to be among the top 65 and ties at the halfway stage along with Kylie Henry and Kelsey MacDonald
There was never any danger of Woad not being around for the weekend. Not after she’d opened with a five-under-par 67. And definitely not when she backed that up with another polished performance.
The 21-year-old English player had signed off her glittering amateur career in style, winning the KPMG Irish Women’s Open by six shots at Carton House last month then finishing joint-second in The Evian Championship, a major in France.
After finishing as the leading amateur in last year’s AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews, she’ll have her sights set on landing the main title at Royal Porthcawl next week and she could be heading to South Wales as a winner on her professional debut.
Playing in the same group as Korda and Charley Hull, Woad birdied the 14th, 17th and 18th after starting at the tenth. Coming home, she added gains at the third, fifth and seventh and ninth. Signing for a 65 to sit on 12 under, she leads by two shots from Dane Nanna Koerstz Madsen.
“Happy with that obviously,” said the leader of her day’s work. “Bogey-free is always nice. Just hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens and then holed a few nice putts. The first nine was a little bit more windy and the back nine calmed down a bit which was nice; could really attack some of the pins. I think my wedges were pretty good. Same as yesterday. I laid up on I think most of the par-5s and managed to make birdie on them still.”
Even someone like Korda could have her work cut out over the weekend. “I'm obviously just kind of trying to continue the momentum really,” added Woad, who made the switch to the pro ranks as the World Amateur Golf Ranking No 1. “Obviously trying to play well, and, yeah, just got confidence and keep on doing that.”
On setting up a chance to win on ger pro debut, she replied: “I’ve played in seven majors now, so I've had all that experience, and obviously the LET events, too. So this wasn't really new, I guess. Kind of knew how to deal with it. I'm just going to stick to the plan I've had all week and same strategy, and just keep trying to play well.”
After adding a 66 to her opening 68, Korda, who is making her debut in the event, is two behind Woad. The American is seeking her first win of the season and will be ready to pounce if the leader slips up over the weekend. “Yeah. I started out strong today with two birdies on my first two holes,” she said. “Yeah, just hit it really well and I have only missed four greens through two days so happy with that. Hopefully I can continue trending in the right direction.”
Koerstz Madsen had set the clubhouse target earlier in the day after posting a second successive 66. “I just stayed in play most of the day and then made a couple putts here and there. I wasn't really in any problems,” she said of her day’s work.
The 30-year-old has played Dundonald Links a fair bit, including three of the previous editions of this event. “Yeah, my dad actually said before I got here that this must be the tournament that I played the most in while I also played here as a junior as well. So I definitely know this course very well, yeah.”
Hall, the 2018 AIG Women’s Open winner, sits eight shots back along with defending champion Coughlin. For Hall, it’s her first outing since getting engaged to Paul Dunne, who won the British Masters at Close House in 2017 and led going into the final round of the 2015 Open. He’s now on caddying duties for his wife-to-be.
It was a real gutsy effort that allowed Dryburgh to make it through to the final 36 holes. She’d opened with a 78, so needed a low one. A five-under 67 did the trick and, even more impressive, it was a bogey-free effort.
“Yeah, obviously got off to a nice start with a birdie on the 10th hole there, my first hole. Kind of needed a hot start today,” said the Scottish No 1. “My caddie just said to me, what's the lowest round you played in Scotland? I don't know what it is, but I said five or six under. One of them today would do. Yeah, good.
“It’s very special to be here for the weekend. My parents were here but the rest of the family came today. It was nice to play well for them. Now I am hoping I can enjoy it as much as I can, not put too much pressure on myself like I did the first day, and just kind of play like I did today.”
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