Woad wins on pro debut as Aussie challenge withers away

There was little cheer for Australia, however, with Karis Davidson, Cassie Porter and Minjee Lee all finishing bunched in joint 21st, 16 shots adrift of Woad.

Davidson, after firing a stunning 66 on Saturday, and Porter, had been 10 shots behind the leader going into the final round.

Lee, who had been joint third after the opening day, had slipped to joint 27th after her penultimate round before going round in 71 to marginally improve her final standing.

Woad, the 21-year-old former world No.1 amateur from Surrey finished with a final round score of 68 after four days of competition at Dundonald Links.

It was her first victory since turning professional earlier in July.

She entered the final round with a two-stroke lead and made birdies on the second, third, 13th and 14th before hitting a bogey on the 16th.

Woad made par on the 17th before a pinpoint approach set up a birdie on the 18th to wrap up the title.

She becomes the first player to win on their professional Ladies European Tour debut since Singapore's Shannon Tan, at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open in February 2024.

Woad said on Sky Sports: "It's a pretty good outcome, I guess! Definitely wasn't expecting to win my first event, but I knew I was playing well so I was kind of hoping to contend.

"I played really solid today. It was pretty nice in the end, could lay up on the par five.

"Links golf is really fun, don't get to play it too often. This is my first time playing links golf since the Open last year. I wasn't exactly sure how it would go, but it went fine!"

Woad finished three shots ahead of second-placed Kim Hyo-joo, who fired seven birdies and three bogeys in a mixed fourth round.

Julia Lopez Ramirez and Kim Sei-young shared third on 14 under, with world No.1 Nelly Korda a shot back in fifth.

English duo Alice Hewson and Charley Hull finished tied for 10th and 21st, respectively.

Attention now turns to the Women's Open at Royal Porthcawl, which begins on Thursday.

Looking ahead to that tournament, Woad added: "Even if I hadn't won this week, I'd still be trying to win it and just trying to be up there really is all you can ask for going into the final day."

Australian Associated Press