On Sunday, Lottie Woad enjoyed what is becoming a regular tradition in her professional career.
With a final-round 69 at the Kroger Queen City Championship in Cincinnati, Woad, who is 22, won her second LPGA event (and third overall) since turning pro in the middle of last year. Woad’s win was the latest highlight in her rapid climb up the food chain in the women’s game. It was also a moment of affirmation for one of her most … eclectic competitive rituals: a bag of gummy bears which has served as her lucky charm.
As the story goes, the tradition began with Woad’s caddy, David Taylor, a veteran LPGA looper who apparently shares her sweet tooth.
“So in the UK, we’ve called a small supermarket Marks & Spencer, and they make this dessert called Percy Pigsand it just so happened that Singapore had one of these tiny little supermarkets and I came across it one night when we were out for dinner,” Taylor said. “So I picked them up and put them in my bag and said, ‘These are some bird treats.’
Caddies are incredibly adept at discovering motivational tools for their players, and in Taylor’s case, the key to Woad’s heart was simple.
“Now, every player is driven by different things, some are financially driven, Lotte is actually candy driven,” he said. “So I put them in the bag and said, ‘Every bird you make, we get one.’ So it’s not like she’s going to hit some crazy sugar rush or anything.”
Woad is careful to point out that she’s not exactly housing toothy bears over the course of the contest. Candies are a boost that helps break the monotony of life on the road.
“I don’t know, we’ve been doing this the last few events we can remember,” Woad said with a smile. “Yeah, I think people think we’re like stuffing our faces with candy during the round, but really we’re eating like four gummy bears.”
But Woad’s moment in the sun at the Kroger Queen City Championship was doubly rewarding, and not just for the success of a pro win. As Taylor explained in an interview with SiriusXMhe had made his pro an unusual promise: The next time she won an event, she could choose the design for the next tattoo on her caddie’s body.
Woad’s win in Cincy meant she had earned that right, and as you might expect, there was only one option that made sense.
“Actually, about an hour ago, I got a text from her and she finally chose what to get,” Taylor said with a laugh. “She’s chosen this part and it’s actually going to be a little bear with a crown on it.”
A bear with a crown — fitting for the first crowning of a new pair of LPGA heavyweights… and one that happened to be in the Queen City.
