‘I know what I need to do’ – rising star Woad targets Open

Lottie Woad is the favorite to win the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl just one week after turning professional.

The most exciting prospect in British golf is seeing a startling rise. She was the Scottish Open champion on Sunday when she arrived in Wales.

She won the Irish Open and placed third in the most recent women’s major, the Evian Championship, in the same month as she ended her amateur career.

The bookmakers have noticed. Tiger Woods in his pomp and, more recently, Scottie Scheffler, who is only just starting out in her professional career, are typically the exceptions to this rule.

However, the Surrey-born 21-year-old is playing golf like a pro and shows a level of maturity beyond her years.

This week, will she win? Former Women’s Open champion Karen Stupples, a NBC commentator, told BBC Sport, “Yes, absolutely.”

She almost almost won at Evian last year, and she came 10th as an amateur that year.

The player admits that her stunning debut in the paid ranks has come as a bit of a surprise despite the fact that she appears unfazed by the attention she is generating.

She told BBC Sport, “I don’t believe you can predict that.” “It’s obvious that I was playing fairly well. However, winning a contest, especially your first one, is never an option.

I was just trying to get some good golf experience so that we could just try it out, which is how it turned out. I guess I won, then.

World No. 1 Briton Charley Hull and world no. 1 Nelly Korda, who were Woad’s first two Dundonald rounds, complimented Woad, who said: “I think I’ve had so many experiences playing in professional events as an amateur.

“Being in those big groups and playing with those players didn’t really feel that different.”

Next, it’s important to carry on the remarkable transition from amateur to professional, where it is currently the most talked about player.

There are always issues you need to fix and maintain, said Woad, and I know what I need to do to do it.

“So just having good prep and, I mean, knowing that you can’t expect to play well all the time, especially on a challenging course out here,”

This perspective adds to Woad’s maturity and adds a striking quality to her game.

According to Stupples, “Lottie Woad is the most accurate golfer I’ve ever come across.”

She will respond, “Oh, okay, I’ll just make three birdies then,” if you tell her that she needs to win.

And if she does it, well, it won’t have any impact on her in any way if she doesn’t. To her, it’s as fundamental.

The winner of the 2004 Women’s Open said, “She has intangibles that other players don’t.”

She doesn’t hesitate to ask, “OK, what must I do to achieve them?” when she examines her goals. And she consents to everything being accomplished.

She stands out from the majority of other players because most players are a little hesitant to look at a leaderboard. They are a little unsure of what will happen next.

She is not in any way frightened of that, in any way or form. And it is incredible.

After playing the first 36 holes with her last week on the Ayrshire coast, Korda used that phrase to describe the newcomer. The world’s number one proclaimed it was “absolutely amazing.”

“Her calmness and process impressed me a lot. People sometimes seem fidgety and kind of doubt themselves when she performs her shot routine, especially when it’s stressful and in the heat of the moment, but she persevered.

She adhered to her process every single time, and I think one of the things I noticed was how mature she is in comparison to her peers and how at ease she was in the heat of the moment.

Korda continued, “You can see that she has put a lot of hours in.” Her putting is excellent, her game is strong, and she hits the ball well off the tee.

Woad, Lilia Vu and Lydia Ko, who won gold at the Paris Olympics last year, have been given another plumb draw this week.

The English golfer has golfing dreams of their own. She said, “I adore golf unwaveringly.

You can practice and develop in a wide range of ways, and there are so many components to it. I just adore competing and practicing.

As she arrived at Dundonald with her first professional trophy last Sunday night, Woad listened to the penalty shootout on the car radio, which gave England’s Lionesses even more glory.