Lottie Woad is taking advantage of her first major exemption, playing her way into contention through 36 holes of the Chevron Championship.
Woad shot 3-under 69 on Friday at The Club at Carlton Woods to sit at 4 under, three shots back of clubhouse leader Nelly Korda.
Thanks to winning the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, Woad, a sophomore at Florida State, earned spots into four of the LPGA’s five majors this season (all but the KPMG Women’s PGA).
The first came with a bit of awkward timing, the same week as the women’s ACC Championship. Woad had to make a quick call between the two, and after discussing with FSU coaches, she opted for the professional major, booking the last seat on her flight to Houston.
And it’s been an eye-opening experience. Woad doesn’t have any teammates to support her at the Chevron, she has a new caddie, and she has to coordinate everything herself.
“Yeah, it’s definitely weird. I think in college everyone does everything for you so you kind of don’t have to worry about how you’re getting to the course and stuff like that,” she said. “This week you’re just out a little more, but it’s been fine.”
The one thing that hasn’t changed over the last few weeks is the quality of her play.
The 20-year-old Englishwoman birdied her final three holes to prevail at Augusta. So far this week at The Woodlands, she has 10 birdies through two rounds (along with six bogeys).
Her primary goal was to play the weekend. She’ll not only do that, she’ll have a later tee time on Saturday. If she keeps it up, she could find herself battling Korda for the title on Sunday.
“That would be cool. I haven’t met her yet. I’m kind of scared to go up to her, so …,” Woad said.
“I just kind of want to continue how I’m playing, and if I can be aroundabouts the lead on Sunday, that would be pretty cool.”
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