Women's Golf

Just Women’s Sports

British golfer Lottie Woad saw her star skyrocket on Sunday, as the 21-year-old phenom took the 2025 Scottish Open trophy — becoming the second player in three years to win in their professional LPGA debut in the process.

“I think it’s quite hard to do that, but very special to win in my first event,” Woad said after the win. “Everyone was chasing me today, and [I] managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots.”

The debut win places Woad alongside US star Rose Zhang, who opened her career by lifting the 2023 Mizuho Americas Open trophy at 20 years old.

After previously refusing purses to maintain NCAA eligibility, the rising Florida State senior’s first pro payday totals $300,000 of the tournament’s $2 million overall payout.

Woad made even more history along the way, as her 21-under-par performance tied 2022 Scottish Open champion Ayaka Furue’s all-time record score at the tournament.

Second-place finisher Hyo Joo Kim — the world No. 8 South Korean star — capped her weekend performance a full three strokes behind Woad, who rose 38 spots to sit at No. 24 in the world rankings with her stunning victory.

Ultimately, with each of the 2025 LPGA Tour’s 19 tournaments thus far claiming a different winner — the longest stretch of parity in the organization’s 75-year history — the former world No. 1 amateur is arguably minting herself as this season’s breakout star.

Nick Coppola | Las Cruces Sun-News

New Mexico State’s top female golfer has earned one of her most prestigious honors yet.

The LPGA Foundation named the Aggies’ Emma Bunch as the 2025 recipient of the Dinah Shore Trophy, which honors the world’s top female collegiate golfer based on academic and athletic achievements. The winner of the award must have a 3.2 GPA or higher, participate in at least 50% of her team’s events, have a scoring average of 78 or less, and “demonstrate leadership and community impact.”

Friends of Golf, who established the Dinah Shore Trophy in 1994 to honor the late LPGA and World Golf Hall of Famer Dinah Shore, will support NMSU’s women’s golf program with a $10,000 grant after the award was bestowed to Bunch.

Bunch won two individual titles this past season to give her an NMSU record seven in her career. She also finished tied for 11th at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, one of golf’s most prestigious amateur tournaments.

Bunch finished tied for first at the Conference USA Championships before losing a playoff to Western Kentucky’s Sydney Hackett, and was then named CUSA Player of the Year before taking part in her second-straight NCAA Regional. She is currently ranked No. 42 in the women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Outside of golf, Bunch maintains a 4.0 GPA while studying Biochemistry at NMSU. She mentors children ages 4-16 as a junior golf coach during summers and leads women’s golf clinics at NMSU. Bunch also volunteers at El Caldito Soup Kitchen, supports the Mesilla Elementary Jog-a-thon and organizes campus clean-up initiatives at NMSU.

“Being selected for the Dinah Shore Trophy is such a big honor, and I could not be more grateful,” said Bunch in an LPGA Foundation press release. “I am so proud to join a list of very accomplished women. None of it would be possible without the tremendous support I’ve gotten from NMSU and the Aggie community, and I am so happy to help spread the Aggie name and give back to the program.”MORE

Bunch will return for her final season at NMSU in the 2025-26 campaign and hopes to qualify for the LPGA Tour afterward. She hopes to use her biochemistry degree to conduct research or serve as a mental coach to help young athletes.

“Emma is as special as they come,” said NMSU women’s golf coach Danny Bowen. “She does everything with a smile on her face and with determination to give her best every day. This award would be given to a worthy person if it found its way to her.”

Australian golfer Minjee Lee came out on top at the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, lifting the third major tournament trophy of her career on Sunday.

Entering the final round atop the leaderboard, Lee never relinquished the lead, finishing the tournament a solid three strokes ahead of the competition.

“I definitely was nervous starting the day,” the 29-year-old acknowledged following her win. “I looked calm, but not as calm as everybody thinks.”

The win earned Lee both an 18-spot rankings boost to world No. 6 and a $1.8 million cut of the event’s $12 million prize pool.

Finishing the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship just behind Lee in a second-place tie were 21-year-old Thai pro and new world No. 29 Chanettee Wannasaen and 24-year-old US standout and new No. 49 Auston Kim. Each took home $944,867 thanks to their four-day performances.

Kim, in particular, cobbled together a massive comeback run, chipping away at her nine-stroke deficit entering the competition’s final round to claim the best finish of her young career.

“I’m very proud of what I did,” the LPGA Tour sophomore said afterwards. “Obviously, the result was really good, but I’m really happy how I handled myself, my emotions, all the adversity. The course is playing really, really tough, but I feel like this week my team and I were very locked in.”

Notably, the tournament’s top three finishers were the only participants to finish below par, as the field struggled with a punishing week of both Texas heat and windier-than-usual conditions.

Todd Kelly | SportsWeek

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico — The LPGA has returned to Mexico for the first time since 2017 and the people probably most excited for it are the eight Mexican golfers in the 136-player field. Well, except for maybe one person.

That would be the greatest Mexican golfer of all time, Lorena Ochoa.

“Amazing. This morning, I woke up, and I was just trying to think you know, how especially how important it is and maybe not as many people realize as much I do,” she told Golfweek shortly after hitting a ceremonial tee shot on the 18th hole on Wednesday to officially kick off the 2025 Mexico Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba. “I know how hard it is to have an event here and get the sponsors. … this is a beautiful place.

“To see what is a real LPGA event, to have it back, I’m really excited.”

Born in Guadalajara and currently residing in Mexico City, Ochoa is visiting the El Camaleon Golf Course in Playa del Carmen this week to welcome the tour back to her home country as well as to catch up with the current generation of LPGA golfers.Need a break? 

That includes Maria Fassi, proud to be playing in her home country for the first time as a professional.

“It’s everything we always dreamt of as kids. We would come out and watch Lorena play,” Fassi said Tuesday. “And then to kind of have that taken away for I think it’s seven years since the last one, and then now us be the ones that people are watching and coming out to support, it’s just amazing. It’s an honor to represent Mexico everywhere we go.”

Fassi said she first met Ochoa when she was “10 or 11” and said if not for Ochoa, she would’ve never considered playing golf, much less at the professional level.

“So, yeah, it’s pretty cool that she’s now kind of coming to watch us and support us. To me, she gets to see what she did, and I think it’s very special, I know for all of us, but I hope that she knows that she’s the reason why the eight of us are here.”

Isabella Fierro knows the golf course well. She grew up in Playa del Carmen and has played El Camaleon dozens of times and is thrilled the LPGA is back in Mexico.

“I’ve known this course since I was probably 12 years old. I play local tournaments here, international events, so I have a deep love for this golf course,” Fierro said. “Just the environment, everything about it is just awesome, and seeing the LPGA out here is just, that’s how far Mexican women’s golf has grown.”

Ochoa was the spark that started it all. A four-time player of the year and winner of 27 LPGA events, including two majors, Ochoa retired suddenly at age 28 in 2010, shocking the golf world. She was short of the then-required 10-year playing career for LPGA Hall of Fame induction, but that rule was later changed and she got in the Hall in 2022.

Ochoa’s legacy is being felt all over the tournament this week and that includes the record number of Mexicans competing in the same LPGA event: Maria Balcazar, Maria Fassi, Isabella Fierro, Fernanda Lira, Gaby Lopez, Andrea Ostos, Carolina Rotzinger and Clarisa Temelo. Five of those eight are in the field on sponsor exemptions, including Temelo, an amateur.

“I can tell you I speak to some of the presidents from the different courses, the different clubs in Mexico and when they tell me, ‘You know, Lorena, we don’t know what to do, we have so many kids,’ and I laugh,” Ochoa said. “It’s a good problem to have, so I just want to say that it makes me really proud, honor, happy, because it’s all about the growth of the game and we see that the numbers are going up, new golf courses, it’s more accessible. I’m working with the Mexican Federation about having a public facility. We’re holding our golf academy on Sundays. We give it for free, for the kids.”

Another competitor this week, Albane Valenzuela, is Swiss but she was born in the U.S. to a Mexican father and French mother.

“Oh, my gosh, Lorena is the GOAT,” raved Valenzuela. “She’s the coolest player. She’s probably one of the reasons I started even playing golf. My dad won with Lorena back in the day, the Spirit, like a form of world championship, if you want to call it, and he always said how incredible of a human being she was. Me growing up and as a teenager, she always took time to talk to me, brought me golf balls, brought me her polos, and I just always had very fond memories of her. I think she’s the most gracious, humble champion that golf has ever produced. Really one of a kind, and the fact that she’s here this week supporting is super special.”

Ochoa’s legacy spreads far and wide, even to South Korea. That’s where Sei Young Kim, a 12-time winner on the LPGA, grew up. One of those wins was the last LPGA event held in Mexico in 2017.

“She’s a legend. When I grew up, I watched her play and I, when I played her tournament [2017 Lorena Ochoa Match Play], I saw her. I met her,” Kim said. “I was like so nervous. I feel like I meet the superstar.”