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Lottie Woad will join an exclusive club if she goes back-to-back at Augusta - Getty Images /Warren Little
Lottie Woad has been labelled as the UK’s hottest golfing prospect since Rory McIlroy but this week at Augusta, the 21-year-old has the chance to join an exclusive club of which the Ulsterman can only dream.
Only three players have successfully defended a global title at the revered Masters course – Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Sir Nick Faldo – and the Surrey prodigy can enrol alongside these legends by retaining the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
“It’s definitely a huge opportunity, and one that I couldn’t imagine when I was watching Augusta as a kid, because this competition didn’t exist then [ANWA was introduced in 2019],” Woad told Telegraph Sport.
“But there is a long way before I can make that happen. The aim is to be in contention on the back nine in the final round on Saturday to give myself a chance – and then to try to take it.”
Woad is the clear favourite for the event that starts at the Champions Retreat layout, with the top 30 in the 72-woman field going on to the shoot-out at Augusta National – and not just because of her status as world No 1.
Anyone who remembers her nerveless passage to glory 12 months ago will recognise a competitor who relishes the big stage. “What sets her apart is her attitude to embrace the opportunity and see it as an enjoyable challenge as opposed to something to fear,” Nigel Edwards, the England Golf performance director, said.
Two behind with four to play, Woad picked up three birdies to deny American Bailey Shoemaker. Woad became the first European winner of the ANWA and only the third Augusta champion to birdie the last two holes to prevail by a shot (following Arnold Palmer in 1960 and Mark O’Meara in 1998).
A year on, Woad explained how she kept her composure. “My sports psychologist, James Austin, [a former Olympic judoka] taught me a simple breathing exercise which is basically just counting breaths and that’s what I did,” she said.
“It is great if I ever need to get back into the present. It can be overwhelming at Augusta, because you know the holes so well that they’ve sort of become mythologised, but having Steve [Robinson] on my bag also helped.”
Like Austin, Robinson works for England Golf and will again be at her side. While retaining the services of Luke Bone, her swing coach since she was a seven-year-old at Farnham, Woad has taken the traditional route through the national set-up. And for the first time Edwards will also be in attendance. They all want to see and celebrate the progress of a performer with the talent to emerge as one of the country’s greats.
“I honestly think she is the UK’s best prospect since Rory came along,” Karen Stupples, the former Women’s Open champion, told Telegraph Sport. “And considering the depth of quality we’ve had in the last few decades that is a big statement.
“However, that win at Augusta was as impressive as I’ve ever seen. Look at the putts she made, especially that 15-footer on the last to avoid a play-off. Clutch putting is an intangible that separates the great from the good – and she has it. With her temperament and nerve, she’ll be very suited to the professional game.”
There is already a clamour for her to switch, although she is torn with leaving Florida State University. Yet what else is there for her to achieve in the non-paid ranks? Woad played a key role in Great Britain and Ireland’s Curtis Cup victory over the Americans at Sunningdale last summer and, after finishing 10th in the Women’s Open, it is understood that she is on the radar of Europe captain Anna Nordqvist for next year’s Solheim Cup.
Industry sources indicate that Woad – who is signed with Excel, the agency that oversees the careers of, among others, Tiger Woods and Justin Rose, and already has significant sponsorship deals – will jump after the US Women’s Open in June. But first, history awaits.
“I do have plenty of goals left in the amateur game and, of course, that includes defending the title at Augusta,” Woad said. “It’s a special place and it would make it even more special for me.”
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