She has flown early to the west coast of the US to be fully acclimatised for this week’s major, imbued with the confidence of her Ohio triumph.
And the key to that victory on 17 May was worked out by the player herself. She had been bemused by an uncharacteristically erratic performance on the greens while missing the cut at the Mizuho Americas Open earlier in the month.
“My putting was pretty poor and I’d been putting pretty good this year,” Woad said. “OK, it could be me, it is probably is me, but, I thought I’ll check the putter.
“The grip was just a tiny bit off, but obviously as golfers, we’re pretty specific. So it was bugging me a little bit. I got it regripped and then, yeah, all good.”
Woad beat a quality field, holding off South Korea’s Haeran Ryu to win by two shots, with major winners Miyu Yamashita and Ruoning Yin trailing in her wake.
The spectacularly in-form Nelly Korda and former world number one Lydia Ko shared eighth place.
“I think it was probably a more important win for me than the first one,” Woad said. “The first one [in Scotland last July] was obviously amazing, but it all happened so quickly.
“I had just turned pro right before that one and then went off and played loads of events. I didn’t really get time to reflect on it.
“I don’t know how many events I’ve played now, but a lot more events, playing each week, travelling each week. Seeing the competition, seeing how good everyone is.
“I think to win again, to get the second one was more important for me.”
