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World No. 1 amateur Lottie Woad didn’t take long to make her decision. In the end, the new opportunity was too good to pass.
The 21-year-old from England nearly won the Amundi Evian Championship on Sunday in France, shooting a final-round 64 to come within one shot of a playoff between Jeeno Thitikul and eventual winner Grace Kim. Woad won the Ladies European Tour’s KPMG Women’s Irish Open the previous week, her first victory in a professional event.
Although she did not receive any points for the Irish win in the LPGA’s LEAP program—designed to get the best amateurs to the tour sooner—the third-place tie at Evian gave her the final two points she needed to earn a tour card. In the immediate aftermath she said that she didn’t know what she was going to do—accept the card immediately and turn professional or return to Florida State for her senior season and take the card next year.
I am very excited to announce that I have decided to turn professional.
I’m delighted to have secured a @LPGA card through the LEAP. I’m also happy to accept membership of the @LETgolf for 2026.
Thank you to everyone who has helped me get to this position. pic.twitter.com/leQvzOLhrm
— Lottie Woad (@LottieWoad) July 15, 2025
Now, with the card in hand, she’ll play next week’s ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open and the following week’s AIG Women’s Open as a professional and will be able to accept a paycheck. She’ll have status on the LPGA for the remainder of this year and all of next.
“I am very excited to announce that I have decided to turn professional and will be accepting membership of the LPGA Tour,” Woad wrote on social media, also thanking all of her respective coaches and Florida State teammates.
Woad burst onto the golf stage by winning the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Augusta National and also tied for 10th place at the Women’s British Open last year at the Old Course in St. Andrews. She collected five victories during her time at Florida State and never finished worse than third all year in college until an eighth-place tie at the NCAA Championship in California.
Welcome to the LPGA Tour, @LottieWoad! 👏#LEAP pic.twitter.com/Pf7q8JnfCB
— LPGA (@LPGA) July 15, 2025
Next week’s ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open (July 24-27) is at Dundonald Links in Ayrshire. The AIG Women’s Open will be in Wales July 31-Aug. 3 at Royal Porthcawl.
Woad, no doubt, will be one of the top players to watch in both events. She would’ve had she remained an amateur too. Just now, she’ll be able to get paid for her performance.
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Main Image: Paul Devlin
