ERIN, Wis. ― As if competing in a U.S. Women’s Open wasn’t demanding enough, Lottie Woad put a new pair of shoes in play during a practice round and “got beat up pretty bad with blisters.”
The world’s top-ranked amateur battled through the long and undulating terrain of Erin Hills to top the amateur standings. Woad, one of six amateurs to make the cut out of the 26 in the field, carded a final-round 75 to finish at 5 over for the championship, two ahead of Texas’s Farah O’Keefe and Carolina Lopez-Chacarra. Oregon’s Kiara Romero vaulted up the board with the day’s low round, 5-under 67, the lowest final round by an amateur in U.S. Women’s Open history.
“My right foot’s OK,” said Woad. “My left foot, I don’t really know if you’d call it a blister. It kind of has no skin, so more of a wound.”
Woad’s finish at the U.S. Women’s Open earns her one point toward the LPGA’s Elite Amateur Pathway program, new this year. A top-25 finish would’ve given her two points. She now has 17 of the 20 points needed to earn her LPGA card for the remainder of the 2025 season as well as 2026.
The rising Florida State senior will earn another point next week at the Arnold Palmer Cup June 5-7 at Congaree Golf Club in South Carolina, where she’ll represent the International team.
Top-ranked amateurs are often invited to the Amundi Evian Championship and, if that’s the case for Woad, a top-25 finish there would give the Englishwoman her LPGA card. She’s already in the field for the AIG Women’s British Open based off her top-10 finish last year at St. Andrews. She can play in that event as an amateur or a pro.
“Definitely feel I can contend,” said Woad of the state of her game. “Still a lot of things I need to work on. I’ve had a lot of experience in majors now and being in the final few groups over the weekend.”
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