Kim Hyojoo Finishes Runner-up as Woad Wins in Professional Debut

4-under-par in the final round of the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open
A rare debut victory following Hanson and Rose Zhang
Kim Seiyoung tied for 3rd, Korda 5th, Lee Mihyang 8th

Kim Hyojoo finished as the runner-up.

On July 27 (local time), at Dundonald Links (par 72, 6,538 yards) in Ayrshire, Scotland, Kim Hyojoo carded a 4-under-par 68 in the final round of the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open on the LPGA Tour (total prize money: $2 million), finishing in second place with an 18-under-par total of 270. She was aiming for her second win of the season and eighth career victory, four months after her last win at the Ford Championship in March, but was unable to make a comeback.

Kim Hyojoo started the day in fourth place, three shots behind the leader, and recorded seven birdies and three bogeys. She began with a birdie on the first hole (par 4) and continued her bid for the title with three consecutive birdies from the fifth to the seventh holes. After a brief pause with a bogey on the eighth hole (par 4), she made back-to-back birdies on the 10th and 11th holes and gained another shot on the 14th hole (par 5), climbing to the top of the leaderboard. However, it was disappointing that she missed short par putts on both the 15th (par 3) and 16th (par 4) holes.

Lottie Woad (England) reduced her score by four strokes to claim victory by three shots with a 21-under-par total of 267. She became only the third player in LPGA Tour history to win in her professional debut, following Beverly Hanson (USA) at the 1951 Eastern Open and Rose Zhang (USA) at the 2023 Mizuho Americas Open. The winner's prize is $300,000 (approximately 400 million KRW).

Born in 2004, Woad finished tied for 10th as an amateur at last year's major, the AIG Women's Open, and tied for third as an amateur at this year's major, the Amundi Evian Championship. Earlier this month, she won the Ladies European Tour (LET) KPMG Women's Irish Open and then turned professional on July 16.

Kim Seiyoung finished tied for third (14-under-par 274), while world No. 1 Nelly Korda (USA) finished fifth (13-under-par 275). The 2017 champion Lee Mi-hyang tied for eighth (9-under-par 279), Choi Hyejin tied for tenth (8-under-par 280), and Joo Subin tied for sixteenth (6-under-par 282). Yoon Ina dropped four shots and fell from a tie for 18th the previous day to a tie for 38th (1-under-par 287).