The 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion stuck to her battle plan to claim victory.

A cheer erupted from the gallery around the 18th green at the final round of the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur. The scorekeeper had just posted a red 7 on the manually operated leaderboard at Augusta National Golf Club after Englishwoman Lottie Woad birdied the 17th hole.

This birdie, coupled with another at No. 15, tied her for the lead with American Bailey Shoemaker, the leader in the clubhouse at 7-under, with one hole to play.

Sensing a chance to witness something special, no one moved – except to jockey for better position to see the green. If Woad parred the final hole, then she would send the tournament to a sudden death playoff. Another birdie would award her the 54-hole championship trophy in regulation.

Nothing like giving the gallery what it wants. Woad, No. 4 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, stiffed her second shot on No. 18 within several feet of the pin and calmly sank her birdie putt for the victory.

“I was honestly just thinking about making birdie rather than par,” she said after her triumph.

Although the Florida State University sophomore had bogeyed the 13th hole earlier in the round to fall two shots behind, she never panicked.

A self-described scoreboard watcher, Woad saw that Shoemaker, a University of Southern California freshman who started the last round four shots behind her at 1-under and tied for fifth place, had seized the lead. However, Woad just reminded herself that she still had birdie opportunities ahead.

“I knew teeing off, only having a two-shot lead, at some point during the round someone was probably going to overtake me with it probably being scorable. I looked at the pins before and they were in some pretty nice locations, so I was prepared for someone to go low,” she said. “When I ended up being two back, I was like, ‘OK, so I’ve got these birdie chances that they have.’ Just gave myself the chances at the end and luckily holed some putts.”

Her strategy payed off as she withstood the furious charge from Shoemaker, who carded 66 for the first bogey-free final round in the tournament’s five-year history.

The runner-up also had nothing but praise for Woad’s performance.

“Good for her. Especially under pressure, knowing she had to do it, that’s amazing. That’s awesome. I think super clutch,” Shoemaker said. “I’m obviously disappointed. But at the end of the day, I played about as good as I could have.”

Birdie Barrage

The tournament, featuring 72 of the world’s top amateur golfers, began with a one-hour rain delay that also included a tornado watch in Evans, where the first two rounds were held at Champions Retreat.

Scotland’s Hannah Darling took a one-stroke lead in the first round after shooting 6-under. The University of South Carolina junior set a new championship record for most birdies in a round with eight, including six birdies on her opening nine holes. Starting with three consecutive birdies, Darling also tied the record for low first-round score by equaling Rose Zhang’s opening 66 in 2023.

“I just made some great putts that normally wouldn’t drop, but they did today,” Darling said.

Despite the windy conditions, 28 players carded subpar rounds to break by one the tournament record set in 2023. Thailand’s Eila Galitsky finished birdie-eagle to move into a three-way tie for second place with Italy’s Francesca Fiorellini and world No. 1 Ingrid Lindblad of Sweden at 5-under 67.

Woad, who was making her second appearance in the championship, sat two shots back at T5 with a bogey-free first-round score of 4-under. She had birdies on the first and 14th holes and an eagle on No. 3.

“I put myself in a good position, so just going to try and keep contending and play well tomorrow and see what happens,” she said.

The winds continued on Day 2 of the tournament, and Woad started her second round with a double bogey at the first hole. She also added two birdies and two bogeys to her card on her first nine.

Growing up in England, she said, “I usually like it when it’s windy. I feel like it suits me.”

With a bogey-free second nine, the 20-year-old tallied three birdies, including at the last hole, to become one of five players to break par in the second round. Woad also became the first player representing England to lead after any round in tournament history.

Shooting 71 in the second round, she and 16-year-old Gianna Clemente were the only players to break par in both rounds at Champions Retreat.

At the end of the first 36 holes, Woad, who finished 13th in the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, sat atop the leaderboard at 5-under 139. She was one of 35 players to make the cut, which fell at three-over 147, and advance to Saturday’s final round at Augusta National.

“I’m going to be excited to get going, excited to play the final round leading at Augusta National. It’s something not many people can say they’ve done, so I’m going to be excited,” she said. “I’m sure there will be some nerves. But I always say, when you’re nervous, it just means you care.”

Calm and Composed

Woad began the last round with a two-shot advantage over two Floridians – the 16-year-old Clemente and University of Florida senior Maisie Filler. With a final round 69, the eventual champion started the front nine with birdies on Nos. 2 and 7 and a bogey on the sixth hole.

Despite her heroics down the stretch on the back nine, Woad thought none of those efforts matched her par save on the 14th hole after her tee shot hit a tree.

“I felt like the three birdies I got were probably not as important as my par save on 14 because I think if I’d gone three back at that point, it would have been pretty difficult to get that back,” she said.

While she doesn’t consider herself a calm, composed person in general, she said she doesn’t get “too hyped up on the golf course.”

“If I’d been told before this week that I’d be two back with four to play, I would have been like, ‘Yeah, perfect. That sounds great,’” Woad said. “To be in the mix on the back nine at Augusta is something that everyone dreams about, so I was trying to really embrace it.”

Shoemaker, one of four former Drive, Chip and Putt national finalists to advance to Saturday play at Augusta National, felt like the final round was a good test to see how she would react under pressure. “It’s always good to put yourself in that position and see how you perform,” she said.

Woad joined four Masters champions – Art Wall Jr., Arnold Palmer, Mark O’Meara and Charl Schwartzel – to birdie Nos. 17 and 18 in the final round on their march to victory.

“I was hoping it was going to be like a nice stress-free day, but it was far from that,” she said. “In the end, it’s a cooler way to finish.”

By Betsy Gilliland