A red-hot putter and solid ball-striking lifted Lottie Woad to the top of the leaderboard on day one at TPC Boston during the first round of the FM Championship. Woad needed just 26 putts on Thursday en route to carding an opening round of 68.

Woad wasted no time making an early move up the leaderboard at TPC Boston where she took advantage of the par five, second hole to roll in her first birdie of the day. She followed up with a near hole-out at the par four, sixth hole where her ball just hung up on the edge of the cup for a tap-in for her second birdie of the day. Woad kept the momentum rolling by making birdie at the next hole, the par five, seventh and she added one more birdie before making the turn by rolling in a putt from nearly 10 feet, down the hill, to go out in 32.

“I generally played a bit better on the front nine. I hit pretty much every fairway. The rough is pretty thick out there, so you need to hit the fairways,” said Woad about her round on Thursday.

“Hit some pretty close shots on some holes and then did well on the par-5s getting on greens, so just kind of had tap-ins on the front nine.”

The second nine was more of a challenge for Woad, who fought a left miss off the tee which kept her from being able to gobble up more birdies on the back side. Instead, she made nine consecutive pars on her inward nine for a four-under par, 68.

“I just played pretty smart when I missed the fairway. I was just aiming for the middle of the greens, and when I did miss the greens I had pretty easy chips or putts from the fringe, so there wasn't really not much stress,” Woad about her struggles off the tee. “Just a couple tee shots on the back nine that missed the fairway kind of made them par holes rather than birdie holes, so just try and clean up that tomorrow.”

This week, Woad is teeing it up for the first time since missing the cut at The Standard Portland Classic and she didn’t play last week at the CPKC Women’s Open. The extra time gave her some much-needed rest ahead of, what will be, her Solheim Cup debut in two weeks for Team Europe. Woad got a chance to scout out the new venue at Bernardus Golf, which will host the Solheim Cup for the first time, and during her scouting visit she made a hole in one at the par three, 13th hole while playing alongside teammates Celine Boutier and Nanna Koerstz Madsen.

“It's kind of creeping up a lot quicker. Yeah, the U.S. team got picked the other day and looks pretty strong as well, so I think it's going to be a great match,” Woad said about the Solheim Cup. I mean, there is not anyone in particular I want to play. I'll happily play anyone, and I think we'll do well.”

There has been speculation that Woad could play alongside Charley Hull, and Woad did admit to knowing who she will be partnering with during the matches, but wouldn’t reveal when asked ahead of this week’s FM Championship who she will be playing alongside when the Solheim Cup gets underway in the Netherlands.

“I know who I'm playing with, so I'm not going to say,” Woad said about her potential playing partners. “I think we'll do pretty good.”

The opportunity to represent the United Kingdom at the Solheim Cup is one of many firsts that Woad has enjoyed over this past season as a first-time member of the LPGA Tour. It’s been a whirlwind season as it was just a year ago that she won her first professional tour event, while still an amateur, in July 2025 at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open. That tournament is being held this week during the FM Championship, but Woad chose to compete this week on the LPGA Tour rather than defend her title.

“It's kind of like my rookie year even though I got to play a few events last year,” Woad said about adjusting to life on Tour. “I think this year has gone pretty well. There has obviously been higher points and lower points, like there always is. I'm pretty happy how much I was in contention this year, maybe compared to last year. Last year I had a win and maybe another one in contention. That was about it. This year I've been out there a lot more, which is more the position I want to be in.”

Woad won in her professional debut on the LPGA Tour in 2025 and picked up her second career win on Tour in May at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G in addition to recording five more top 10s. And if Woad wants to continue to put herself in contention as she has done through the first half of the season, she’s already well on her way to doing just that again this week at TPC Boston.

Woad Goes Bogey-Free on Day One at FM Championship

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