Woad wins on a thrilling final day in Cincinnati
By Amy Rogers
CINCINNATI - Sunday’s final round at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G quickly became a two-person race as Lottie Woad and Haeran Ryu separated themselves from the rest of the field and traded spots atop the leaderboard throughout the day at Maketewah Country Club.
Woad, who took a three-stroke lead into the final round, birdied the par four, 1st hole to take a commanding four-stroke lead. But Ryu began making a Sunday charge up the leaderboard, rattling off birdies on holes Nos. 3-5 to pull within one-stroke of Woad at 12-under par.
A wayward tee shot at the par four, 6th hole would result in her biggest mistake of the week, where she failed to hit the fairway or to reach the green in two. Instead, her ball landed short of the greenside bunker and in the thick rough. Woad hit a flier over the putting surface, and then left her third shot back onto the green, well short of the hole. Woad would make her first double of the week at the sixth hole to fall into a tie atop the leaderboard with Ryu.
“I’m not really sure what happened there, it happened pretty quickly there,” Woad said about her double-bogey. “I tried to focus on each hole individually, tried to not think too far ahead and I knew Haeran was on a good run. I knew there were some chances coming down the stretch so I tried to stay in my own game.”
Woad immediately bounced back at the par five, 7th hole where she found both the fairway and the green to make birdie and retake the outright lead at 12-under par.
“I was always trying to shoot the lowest I could,” Woad said about her strategy. “Obviously, starting with a three-shot cushion, if I shot a decent round someone would have to play spectacular to catch me, so I think I was just trying to focus on my own game.”
At the par four, 14th hole Ryu suffered a similar fate to what happened to Woad at the 6th hole where she missed the fairway. Like Woad, Ryu also struggled to reach the green in two and missed a putt inside five feet for bogey to drop two shots at the par four and tumble three-strokes behind Woad.
Even with Woad’s large lead, she was never far from trouble as Maketewah Country Club continued to test her all the way into the clubhouse as Ryu rallied over the closing stretch.
At the 13th and 14th holes, a two-shot swing cut Woad’s lead to one. Woad’s wayward tee shot found the right hand rough and left her with an uneven lie. Woad would miss her par save while Ryu chipped up from the front of the green to the par five, 14th for an easy birdie to once more pull within one of the lead.
Woad fought an unwieldy driver again at the par five, 14th hole with a left miss off the tee that created an awkward stance for her second shot on the upslope of a fairway bunker which forced Woad to punch out into the fairway. Woad rolled in a critical par save on the green to maintain her narrow one-stroke margin ahead of Ryu.
Over the critical closing stretch, Woad managed to straighten out her tee shot, helping her not just find more fairways but also greens to set up a big breaking left to right putt from outside 15 feet for birdie at the par four, 17th hole that would ultimately give her a two-stroke victory.
Woad’s win at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G is her second on the LPGA Tour, she also won in her member debut at the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open in 2025.
“Obviously very, very happy and grateful,” Woad said about her victory. “This one is definitely I think is a little sweeter than the first one because I wasn't really expecting that. This one I've seen how good everyone is out there, so it's good to win again.”
Ryu carded a final round, 67 to finish solo second and two-strokes behind Woad for her sixth top 10 finish of the season.
“Amazing front nine,” Ryu said about her start to the day. “But I have a little mistake on the back nine, but that holes I felt is so hard and tricky holes, so I making bogey and double bogeys there. But it's okay, because everybody feels so hard these hole. Next par-5 I can make the bounceback birdie. Yeah, I feel so happy right now.”
Cincinnati delivered nearly all four seasons in a single week, capped off by a bright, warm, and sunny Sunday at Maketewah Country Club. Temperatures climbed into the mid-80s and, despite the rain and storms that moved through the area on Saturday, the course drained well and was relatively dry for the final round. The wind, which had gusted at times throughout the week, was relatively calm, making for ideal final round scoring.
Sunday, Miyu Yamashita was solo third after starting the day eight-strokes off the lead. Yamashita vaulted up the leaderboard with seven birdies, including four consecutive on holes Nos. 14-17, offset by three bogeys, to match the low round of the week with a six-under, 64. The round is the lowest of the season for Yamashita who picked up her fifth top 10 of the season on Sunday.
Ruoning Yin posted a four-under par, 66 to finish the week solo fourth for her fourth top 10 in her last five starts.
Amanda Doherty, who held a share of the 36-hole lead, was tied for fifth for the week along with Jin Young Ko, who posted a bogey-free, 5-under par 65 for her low round of the season. Ko’s tie for fifth is her best of the year and she said that a change in mindset this week helped her to play without fear on the golf course, which was the key to her success.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda tried to mount a charge on Sunday, posting a three-under par round of 67 to match her low round of the week. It was an uncomfortable week for Korda, who never seemed to find the same spark she had through the first six starts of the season, and said she wasn’t too happy with her swing in Cincinnati. Korda finished at 5-under par for the championship and in a tie for eighth, which is her first finish outside the top-2 this season on the LPGA Tour.
