Women’s Scottish Open: Lottie Woad secures magnificent victory on pro debut

The former world number one amateur held a two-shot lead going down the par-five 18th and, after knocking a wedge to tap-in range, she finished in style with a birdie.

“It’s a pretty good outcome,” Woad said in understated fashion. “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win but knew I was playing well and just hoping to contend.

“There’s not many scoreboards out there, but I knew it was probably quite tight at one stage.

“It’s great. Links golf is really fun and it went fine. My dad was here all week and my mum got the train up last night, so I was hoping I wouldn’t mess it up.”

Woad, who won the Irish Open as an amateur, turned professional last week after missing out on £400,000 prize money when finishing just a shot outside the play-off won by Grace Kim at the Evian Championship – the women’s fourth major of the year.

She now takes home £220,000 in prize money for winning on Scotland’s west coast and heads to Royal Porthcawl for next week’s Women’s Open among the favourites.

“Even if I hadn’t won this week, I would still be trying to win the Open next week,” added Woad. “It’s still a learning curve getting used to the attention.”