Darling eager to ‘do it all over again’
Hannah Darling watched Lottie Woad create history as the first Great Britain & Ireland player to win the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and is determined to emulate the English player in 12 months’ time.
Woad, a 20-year-old from Surrey, finished birdie-birdie at Augusta National to claim victory by a shot over Bailey Shoemaker after the American had signed off the 54-hole event with a record final-round 66.
It was a spectacular finish from Woad, who’d led after the opening two circuits at Champions Retreat but found herself trailing by two shots with five holes to play before producing something special to join Jennifer Kupcho, Tsubasa Kajitani, Anna Davis and Rose Zhang as Augusta National Women’s Amateur champions.
“To be in the mix on the back nine at augusta is something that everyone dreams about,” admitted the winner of the 2022 R&A Girls’ Amateur Championship at Carnoustie. “So I was trying to really embrace it. I didn't really have anything to lose at that point.”
Darling, who’d led after an opening six-under 66 at Champions Retreat, also had cause to feel pleased with her effort as the 20-year-old Broomieknowe player finished seventh after a closing level-par 72.
“Yeah, I had a lot of fun,” declared the Scottish No 1. “I would love to go back out there and do it all over again. Today was a great day. I feel like I played a lot better than my score. I just had a few putts that just didn't drop.”
This was Darling’s third consecutive appearance in the event and the University of South Carolina player has already set her sights on being back next year try and improve on this effort.