Top-ranked amateur won Irish Open but still won't turn pro for this week's LPGA major
Lottie Woad won her first professional title last Sunday in Ireland but will still play this week's LPGA major as an amateur. The world's No. 1 amateur is oh-so-close to her LPGA card through the tour's new LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway (LEAP) program and is thinking long-term.
'No, I'm not tempted to turn pro yet," Woad told the LET after her dominant six-shot victory at the KPMG Women's Irish Open. Two-time LPGA winner Madelene Sagstrom finished second to Woad and took home a nearly $79,000 winner's check.
To become the first player to earn her card through the program, 21-year-old Woad must accumulate 20 points. The 2024 Augusta National Women's Amateur champion didn't earn any points with her LET victory, but she's currently only two points shy of the threshold.
Should Florida State's Woad finish in the top 25 this week in France at the Amundi Evian Championship, she'll earn two points and have her card for the remainder of the 2025 LPGA season as well as 2026.
A made cut would yield one point. She'd then have another chance to get to 20 at the AIG Women's British Open, where she finished in the top 10 last year at St. Andrews to earn a spot in 2025. She can play in that event as an amateur or a pro.
Should Woad fail to earn a point at either of those events, she'll lock up her card in early August after the conclusion of the U.S. Women's Amateur, based off her standing in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. The player who wins the Mark H. McCormack Medal for finishing No. 1 earns three points. Those who finish second or third earn two points.
Woad's biggest competition for the No. 1 ranking, FSU teammate Mirabel Ting, makes her professional debut this week in France and will drop out of the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
In her junior season at FSU, Woad won twice and never finished outside the top three until the NCAA Championship, where she took a share of eighth place.
Other amateurs in the Evian field include 2024 AJGA Rolex Player of the Year Gianna Clemente, 2025 NCAA champion Maria Jose Marin, 2024 U.S. Women's Amateur and U.S. Girls' Junior champion Rianne Malixi, 2025 Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific champion Jeneath Wong, 2025 Augusta National Women's Amateur champion Carla Bernat Escuder and 2024 Women's Amateur Latin America champion Clarisa Temelo.
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