'One hole cost me' - Lottie Woad on finally hitting a bump in the road

Lottie Woad finally hit a bump in the road as she was starting to make her presence felt on the leaderboard in the AIG Women’s Open in Wales.

Following an opening level-par 72 at Royal Porthcawl, the newly-crowned ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open winner had moved into a tie for fourth after getting to five under par through 14 holes in the second round.

At that stage, Woad stood just six just off the lead, held by Japan’s Miyu Yamashita, only to have the wind taken out of her sails by a triple-bogey 7 at the 16th.

Lottie Woad pictured during the second round of the AIG Women's Open at Royal Porthcawl in Bridgend | Luke Walker/Getty Images

To her credit, she bounced back from that sore blow to close with two pars, signing for a two-under 70. It left her sitting nine off the lead after Yamashita signed for a second-round 65 to sit on 11 under.

“There was a lot more good in it than bad. Played really well for 17 holes, just that one hole cost me a bit,” said Woad, who had birdied the sixth, eighth, tenth, 12th, 13th and 14th before seeing some of that good work undone in one fell swoop.

Reflecting on the 16th, she said: “Yeah, I think it's probably the toughest hole on the course. The tee shot is hard to hit the fairway and then you've got 3-wood into a very strong wind. Anything that's missing the target is going to be exaggerated.

“So pushed it and got a pretty unlucky lie. Wasn't too thick around there apart from where I was. So couldn't really do much with that. But the two pars after that wasn't too bad.”

Two referees looked to see if her ball had embedded itself in the rough. “It wasn't embedded was the opinion,” she reported of that disappointing verdict. ”So I had to take the penalty for taking an unplayable (lie). I just had to forget about it as quickly as possible.”

While Yamashita looks as though she’s been playing a different course and her compatriot Rio Takeda sits on eight under, the rest of the players up near the top of the leaderboard are closely grouped heading into the weekend.

“Yeah, I'd certainly take it now,” said Woad of sitting on two under, “but not when I was standing on the 16th tee. Yeah, just got to try to play well over the weekend. It's pretty packed, so I can move up a bit.”

Japan’s Miyu Yamashita watches her second shot on the 18th hole at Royal Porthcawl | Warren Little/Getty Images

Yamashita, a 13-time LPGA of Japan Tour winner, finished 13th in this event in 2022 then 21st the following year before missing the cut at St Andrews 12 months ago.

“Today was good overall, and my tee shots were very consistent, so I was able to hit from the fairway,” said the world No 15. “I played really consistent golf today. With the wind, I'm conscious of how important it is to keep the same rhythm throughout the round.”

World No 1 Lottie Woad sits alongside Woad after having to settle for a par-72 in her second round “Honestly didn't really capitalise on anything in the calmer conditions on the front nine, then kind of got really windy on the back,” said the American. “Made a few more mistakes, but bounced back with some birdies. Overall, I'm not going to complain with even par.”

Gemma Dryburgh, the sole Scot in the field, missed the cut by a shot despite covering her final seven holes in three under to salvage a 71 for a three-over total.