Can ANWA have its first repeat champion? Lottie Woad is ready for the opportunity

New York Times

05-04-2025

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The proud father creeps around a rope and pulls out his phone, leaning over to get a shot of his daughter getting interviewed by the Golf Channel by the water at Champions Retreat.
The photo will go into a scrapbook he and his wife put together each year and give at Christmas to commemorate the many places Lottie Woad has gone in the previous 12 months. The book is getting bigger than ever.
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'She's quite a shy person,' Nick Woad says as his daughter finishes up the interview following a second-round 70, giving her the co-lead at the Augusta National Women's Amateur with 18 holes remaining. She makes her way around his shoulder as she notices who he's talking to.
Oh, no. A reporter. The 21-year-old Florida State junior shrinks within herself, grimaces and steps backward with a nervous smile. Please. Not more people to talk to.
Shy indeed.
It's why a year ago she was living the best and most uncomfortable moment of her life. Woad had just birdied three of the final four holes at the most famous course in the world to win the fifth annual ANWA and put herself in the history books. The dream. But it meant she had to give a speech in front of everyone at Augusta. The nightmare.
But looking at that moment in the spotlight — that moment of discomfort — is what Florida State coach Amy Bond thinks could be ground zero for what Woad is becoming. She was already one of the best players in the world. But since then? Top 25 at the Chevron, the first women's major of the year. Second at the NCAA National Championships. Tenth at the British Open as low amateur.
Woad is no longer new to these moments. She is rising to them, time and time again, before she even turns pro. She's finished third or better in each of her last eight collegiate events and ranks No. 1 in the world.
So she showed up at ANWA with all the attention, all the expectation, and put herself in the final group Saturday with a chance to become the first repeat winner.
A first birdie of the day for @LottieWoad on No. 12 pulls her to -8 and a shot off the lead. #ANWAgolf pic.twitter.com/iKKMO71Pad
— Augusta National Women's Amateur (@anwagolf) April 3, 2025
When asked about Woad elevating on these stages, Bond goes back to that speech.
'We've had players in the past that have been scared to win because they didn't want to give the speech,' Bond said. 'It's a real, living, breathing thing.'
Woad wanted to win, but she dreaded that speech. She even groaned on Wednesday about the attention of having to stand up at the chairman's dinner this week.
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'With females, self-confidence is a big, big thing,' Bond continued. 'Social media has become such a huge thing these days and being in the spotlight and things like that.
'Well, a lot of golfers are naturally just shy people. So it's the fear of criticism. We all have it, and I think that's a thing for players having to stand in front of people and be critiqued.'
That's why the theme of this week for Woad has been comfort. She's confident because she's given the speech. She's beaten her peers time and time again. Once you know you've done something, and when you step to the first tee knowing you've done the work to prepare, you know you can do it again.
Even being the 36-hole leader isn't new. When Bailey Shoemaker shot a final round 66 to take the lead in 2024, Woad went to the final stretch knowing she needed to attack down three. No problem, because in her mind, she still had the same birdie holes left that Shoemaker did. She came up clutch with those three birdies in four holes.
'I had the lead and then lost it,' Woad said. 'Tomorrow, if that happens again, then I'd know that I've come back from there before.'
She's not here on belief alone, of course. Woad's a skilled, disciplined golfer. She works as hard as anyone, to the point her caddie (and England golf performance coach) Steve Robinson called her 'an obsessive-compulsive golfer.' She works with a sports psychologist.
Last year during the practice round on Friday, some players went to check out the par 3 course for fun. Woad stayed on, working with Robinson and her English coach Luke Bone all day. Robinson also works with English stars like Matt Fitzpatrick and has a relationship with European data guru Edoardo Molinari. He shared data that helped with strategy, from pin placement to where to attack.
Take all of that work, mixed with her ability, and add it with this new level of confidence that she is the top-ranked amateur in the world, and Woad steps to the first tee each week with full belief.
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'You just have to learn to do it, just like you have to learn to perform in front of crowds, because 90 percent of the time you're alone,' Bond said. 'You've just got to get comfortable being uncomfortable.'
So she showed up to Champions Retreat on Wednesday — where the first two ANWA rounds are played before the top 30 make a 36-hole cut to play Augusta National — and shot a 65, only trailing first-round leader Megha Ganne. When Ganne bogeyed two of the first four holes Thursday, Woad took control with a 3-under start through 16 before a bogey to close.
She'll play the pressure-filled final round on the biggest stage in women's amateur golf, tied in the final group with Oregon's Kiara Romero. Right behind her is Ganne, an exciting Stanford star in her own right. And 16-year-old phenom Asterisk Talley is in the hunt, two back of the lead. Eight more are within five shots.
Saturday will not tell us too much about Woad's future because we know she can win at Augusta. We know she can step up at majors and national championships. But more importantly, Lottie Woad knows it. A speech isn't going to scare her at all.