Lottie Woad has already reached remarkable heights

For the first time in the history of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, England has two players in the top 10.

You will not be at all surprised to learn that one of them is Charley Hull, who is ranked sixth. However, you may be rather more surprised to discover that the other is Lottie Woad.

Hull made her mark as a teenager and is a winner on the LPGA Tour. She has also gone close in women’s majors and should have won the US Women’s Open and the Women’s Open. She is a hugely gifted golfer with a massive following. But even she would probably admit that she should have achieved more in the professional game.

And then there is Woad. She is a phenom, a generational talent, the sort of golfer who comes along once in a blue moon.

She is an extraordinary talent who has already achieved wondrous things at the tender age of 21. 

In 2021, she won the Welsh Women’s Open Strokeplay Championship. In May 2022, she made her debut on the Ladies European Tour at the Madrid Open and in August of the same year she won the Girls Amateur Championship. 

Woad enrolled at Florida State University in 2022 and started playing with the Florida State Seminoles team. She was WGCA Freshman of the Year, and as a junior FSU Female Athlete of the Year and ACC Golfer of the Year.

In April 2024, she won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the next month she was runner-up in the individual competition at the NCAA Division One championship. In June 2024, she climbed to the top of the world amateur rankings and in August she was named as the winner of the Mark H McCormack Medal, making her the first Englishwoman to receive the honour. In the same month she was also awarded the Smyth Salver at the Women’s Open after finishing in a tie for 10th place.

The English golfer turned professional after winning the Irish Open as an amateur. She coasted to victory by six strokes. It was the first win by an amateur on the tour since 2022.

Even more extraordinary was her performance at the Evian, where she missed out on a playoff for the major by a shot. It saw her climb to 64th place in the world rankings, which is the second-highest ranking for an amateur (after Lydia Ko) since the system was launched in 2006.

Her finish at the Evian earned her enough points in the LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway (LEAP) to secure an LPGA Tour card for 2025 and 2026. 

Her first tournament as a professional was the Scottish Open. And guess what? She only went and won that too.

Hull and Woad could not be more different. Hull has courted plenty of controversy, never more so than with her insistence on smoking on the golf course at a time when all common sense dictates that it is an incredibly unhealthy habit. She has been accused of setting a terrible example to her young fans. But she couldn’t care less. Hull does things her own way - and always has.

Woad is a model citizen, on and off the golf course. She has a fantastic temperament and her transition to the paid ranks has been utterly seamless. 

I have been following her closely on social media and have commented on both her performances and her demeanour. To my utter astonishment, she has taken the time and trouble to reply to me. When you consider her schedule, this is pretty impressive. Now I could try to tell myself that she has done this because she knows that I am a golf writer but I am 100% certain that Woad will replied to the many regular golf fans who are supporting her journey.

At some point during the close season I hope to be able to interview Lottie. Of one thing I am certain - this time next year she will have overtaken Hull in the world rankings. I am utterly convinced that she will win her first major in 2026 and will record multiple victories on the LPGA Tour. And I am just as convinced that it will not change her one little bit.