Woad was back in Scotland for the Women’s Open last year, which was held over the old race in St. Andrews.
She had missed the cut at the US Women’s Open and Evian Championship, but arrived in Fife in a floating mood for her fourth major.
Woad would be in battle all week and Joint 10th ends up to win the Smyth Salver as the highest placed amateur, with a different highlight a 60-year chip-in Eagle Two on the PARFOUR Last in round three.
“That brought me back to the top 10 in the last day. It was a very cool moment with the stands full of cheering people,” she says.
“Then when I prize, I can stand next to the winner, Lydia Ko. To see her lift that trophy motivates you.
“It was a perfect week. At home from Golf, first open – I couldn’t have dreamed better.”
However, there was little time to party. The Curtis Cup, which is placed against their American counterparts in Great Britain and the best female amateurs in Ireland, was the following week.
The Americans were favorites to win a fourth consecutive title after dominant victories in the previous three editions of the biennial event.
But GB and I were stimulated by Europe’s victory Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew as their leader.
And Woad, who grew up for 40 minutes from the Old Course Sunningdale that organized the event, contributed 2½ points in a nerve-racking 10½-9½ triumph.
At that time, WOAD had risen to the top of the amateur ranking, which earned her the Mark H McCormack medal. Ko won the price three consecutive times from the beginning in 2011, while Leona Maguire in Ireland and Rising US Star Rose Zhang are also three -way recipients.
So what holds 2025 for Woad?
The ‘p’ word is inevitable, even if woad “will only make that decision when I get with it”.
Becoming a professional seems to be the next logical step and Woad is on an LPGA route that can help speed up that process.
“You can get an LPGA card if you reach 20 points and I am currently at 16,” she says. “I try to get 20 points this year and then we have a decision to make.
“If you make a major, you get a point. If you get a top 25 finish, you get a point. If you win Augusta or NCAAS (National Collegiate Athletic Associations), you get two points.
“I don’t try to think too much about it. But if I play well, I get those points.”
The NCAAs are the pinnacle of collegial wave in the US, putt teams and individuals against each other. Woad finished in second place in the individual competition last year, while her university team was 11th.
This season, WOAD has placed an impressive eight consecutive top-three finishes since September. But her teammate of the state of Florida, 19-year-old Malaysian Mirabel Ting, has won that overshadowed and six events since last year’s Awna for the individual rankings of the NCAA in Leiden.
Jasmine Koo is also located in a field with 49 of the top 50 in the world. In the past 12 months, the number two-arranged player has achieved four wins and seven top-five finishes.
And 16-year-old Asterisk Talley has been tipped to appear again. She finished Joint Eighth and reports woad in the singles at the Curtis Cup last year because she also enjoyed an excellent 2024.
However, Woad will know in the week that she has conquered Augusta National and she will again have England -Golf ladies head coach Steve Robinson on the bag.
“That will be fun to have that fame,” she says. “I am just very excited. It will be a fun week, and hopefully I can be the first to defend the title.”
