AUGUSTA, Ga. – What we remember in defeat here are the calamitous moments, the shots that are too bold and others too timid, the splashes and the trickles and the flubs.
But Augusta National doesn’t just test a player’s power and touch and discipline. It’s also a measure of stone-cold precision.
So it was that Lottie Woad stood in the middle of the 10th fairway, eying up her approach into the downhill green as she tried to chase down another Augusta National Women’s Amateur title.
The 21-year-old Englishwoman has enjoyed a banner season, and it all began here a year ago. Though she was ranked No. 4 in the world, Woad lacked a significant title against the game’s best at this level. That changed that magical day last April when she survived a few early stumbles to birdie three of the last four holes and win arguably the most prestigious women’s amateur event in the world.
Woad’s life changed that day – more obligations, expectation, recognizability. But so, too, did her career. An ascension to world No. 1. Major starts. A victorious Curtis Cup appearance. And during her day job in college golf, with the latest class off to the pros, she was the new targeted player to beat. All she’s done since is finish inside the top 3 in every event she’s played for Florida State.
“This week is definitely different to last year,” Woad said earlier this week in Augusta, “coming in with bigger expectations and stuff like that. But I’d be very proud of how I dealt with that if I could manage to win it.”
As she learned last year in victory, Woad’s opening round at Champions Retreat could set the tone for the week. She recorded an opening 65 to sit two shots back, then played solidly enough in Round 2 to grab a share of the 36-hole lead and earn her way back into the final group.
An opening birdie Saturday helped give her a two-shot cushion, but it was clear from the outset she wasn’t completely dialed. She bricked a short birdie putt on the second. She missed the green on the par-3 sixth and made bogey. And as she stepped into her shot on 10, she hadn’t just been caught but passed by Spaniard Carla Bernat Escuder, a senior transfer at Kansas State who has enjoyed college success but lacked any big-game bona fides.
Golf Channel Staff
