English
amateur Lottie Woad carded a four-under final-round 69 to claim her
first Ladies European Tour title in dominant fashion with a six-shot
victory at the Women's Irish Open.
But
because Woad is an amateur, she will not receive any prize money, with
the 67,500 euro (£58,000) winner's cheque going to Sweden's four-time
Solheim Cup player Madelene Sagstrom, who finished second.
Woad,
the world number one amateur, hit the front in windy conditions on
Friday, extended her lead to seven strokes in Saturday's third round and
made six birdies and two bogeys on Sunday to cruise home at Carton
House.
The 21-year-old -
who broke 70 in all four rounds - becomes the first non-professional to
win on the Ladies European Tour since Czech player Jana Melichova at
the 2022 Czech Ladies Open.
Woad,
who won the 2024 Augusta National Women's Amateur title and finished
tied 10th in last year's Women's Open, carded just three bogeys all week
in a hugely impressive performance in County Kildare.
"It felt pretty comfortable overall," said Woad.
"There
were a few moments at the start of the back nine that could've gone
wrong but I hung in there and finished with some nice birdies.
"As
soon as I birdied the second hole, holed a nice 12-footer there, it
settled me in. I hit some good shots today, maybe didn't hole as many
putts as the other days, but it was pretty stress free in the end."
Sagstrom, with a final round of 68, finished second with England's world number 19 Charley Hull (69) in fourth.
Anna
Foster (72) was the leading Irish player in a share of 12th on eight
under, while her countrywoman Canice Screene carded a bogey-free
seven-under 66 - the joint-lowest round of the day - to finish inside
the top 40.
Having
established a comfortable 54-hole cushion, Woad picked up two birdies in
her first four holes on Sunday before dropping a shot at the par-four
fifth.
Surrey's Woad regained that shot with a birdie three at the eighth and picked up another at the 13th.
The
Florida State University player dropped a shot at the par-five 15th,
but bounced back with birdies on her next two holes, a four at the
par-five 17th coming after she nearly holed her approach.
While Woad nearly produced a grandstand finish by holing a long birdie putt at the last, a par secured a winning score of 271.
"It definitely means a lot," added Woad, who will be in major action next week at the Evian Championship in France.
"Obviously
I had a big lead coming into today, but I was able to focus. I was
being chased by some really good players but happy to get it done."
England's
Hannah Screen hit a 67 to share fifth place, but home favourite Leona
Maguire closed with a disappointing 75 to finish in a tie for 48th.
