Lottie Woad was doing Lottie Woad Things When she reached the 16th hole in the second round of AIG Women’s Open: six birds in her last 10 holes, including three directly from holes 12-14. The last of those birds had moved Woad to five under the tournaments, in a tie for the fourth and well within the shock distance of the drivers. (At the end of the round, Miyu Yamashita had solo superiority on 11 under.)
But the hottest player in the women’s game – Woad, as an amateur, last month won the Irish Open and was tied up for the third in Evian before returning the pros and cons Open Scottish Openall of these had helped her be a favorite of betting in PORTHCAWL ROYAL This week – was about to calm down. Woad’s problems began after she found fairway at 16. With her next swing, a 3-drru in a strong wind, she blocked her ball in a belly. A goner? It seemed to be. That was up to Woad’s game partner, Lydiadiscovered the semi -dipped ball to the ground.
“A pretty unlucky lie,” Woad said later. “It wasn’t too stupid there except where I was. So I couldn’t really do much with that.”
Woad believed the ball was embedded – ie, was inserted into its own tar of pitch – which, under Rules 16.3would allow her to set up, clean and throw her ball inside a club in the place where she was embedded, but not closer to the hole. Woad called a judge who considered the ball actually not embedded.
Woad called for a second opinion. But the official ruled as he had the first: play it as it stands.
Woad said she was disappointed in the ruling.
Making things worse, her lie was so bad that her ball couldn’t play. This forced Woad to get an unbearable decline and a drop in line. From there, Woad needed more four shots to get out, leading to a trio of trio-shuplaka 7 that threw it back into two under.
Woad closed with a pair of pars and is nine of the superiority through 36 holes.
“There was much better in her than bad,” Woad told her round. “Play really good for 17 holes, just that a hole cost me a little.”
To stay behind the turbulence at the age of 16, Woad said: “I knew 18 was a good chance of birds. It was a kind of just to pass 17, which is a complicated hole. I just had to forget it as soon as possible.”
Woad, who is in a nine-running tie for the 10th, has a lot of work to do if she will seek her first big victory in her first great start as a professional. But whatever happens, she knows that her week has already been successful.
“Playing four rounds is never a bad thing,” she said.
