'Pretty frustrated' Lottie Woad said picking wrong club led to disastrous ANWA mistake
Lottie Woad stood in the middle of the 10th fairway at Augusta National Golf Club, staring down the back-left hole location.
The defending Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion came into Saturday’s final round with a share of the lead. By the time she reached the fairway of the downhill par 4, she was one behind, but there was no reason to panic. Last year, Woad finished birdie-par-birdie-birdie to claim the title, so facing a deficit on the back nine of one of the world’s most famous courses wasn’t something she was uncomfortable with.
But as the saying goes, the Masters doesn’t begin until the back nine on Sunday. And for Woad, a year after her triumph down Magnolia Lane and conquering the back nine, she experienced the brutal side of golf’s conquest for stardom.
The world’s top-ranked amateur hit 5-iron, and her ball landed on the rear portion of the putting surface before tumbling down the slope behind the green and into the pine straw, beneath a bush. Woad had to take an unplayable, unable to hit a shot because of the aforementioned shrubbery, and hit her fourth shot to the fringe after a drop. She didn’t find the green until her fifth, a chip shot coming up a foot short of the hole. She tapped in for a double-bogey 6, and just like that, her dreams of becoming the first two-time and repeat ANWA champion had vanished.
“I put a good swing on it, it was just the wrong club,” Woad said. “Thought it was meant to be into the wind, and off the downslope it came out a bit too flat, so probably should have just hit one less club. Then got in an unfortunate position, so probably was always going to make 6 from there.”
Woad ultimately signed for 72 on Saturday, finishing solo third and three shots behind Carla Bernat Escuder, who had a brilliant final round of 68 that featured six birdies. Woad had four birdies in her bid to repeat, including on Nos. 13 and 14, but a bogey after a poor tee shot on the par-3 16th ultimately ended any glimmer of hope she had to challenge Bernat Escuder.
The junior at Florida State birdied her first hole after a brilliant approach, but she struggled with her approach shots for much of the day, especially down the stretch. Her clutch shot-making skills that she showcased a year ago in her come-from-behind win were replaced with missed putt after missed putt and a player struggling to regroup after the deflating double.
“At that point, there was nothing to lose. Just said, let’s make some birdies, and that was really it,” Woad said. “Other than 16, I gave myself short putts at it on every hole for birdie, so I kind of did what I could from there. Just burned a lot of edges.”
There were three past champions in the field this week, with Woad and 2022 winner Anna Davis making the final-round cut. 16-year-old Asterisk Talley birdied two of her final three holes, signing for 68 and finishing a shot behind Bernat Escuder.
But for Woad, who has held the top spot in WAGR for 10 months, it’s the what-ifs from Saturday that will stick with her from the final round. Same as they have for others time and time again at Augusta National.
But even in defeat, Woad had great perspective on her chase for history.
“I think you learn every time you’re in contention. It’s just putting yourself in those positions, really,” Woad said. “You can’t win every time. I can be pretty happy with how I played this week. Like, the goal coming into it was just to be in contention. So got that, and yeah, it was a pretty good defense in the end.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Lottie Woad loses ANWA title defense after choosing wrong club
