Lottie Woad is heading back to TPC Boston with a course map already etched in her memory, and the 22-year-old English golfer says that alone should make this trip easier. Woad, now ranked fifth in the world, will play her second FM Championship at the Norton club this week, and she says familiarity with the layout makes practice days go smoother than they did a year ago.
That comfort matters on a course built to punish carelessness. As The Boston Globe reports, Woad singled out the second and 18th holes as the layout's highest risk-reward tests. The second is a 493-yard par-5 with water surrounding a green that's reachable in two, while the 504-yard 18th punishes inaccurate approaches on the way home. The par-72, 6,533-yard course, according to the same report, is also lined with thick rough around its greens and well-placed bunkers, though it rewards golfers who find the fairway with real scoring chances.
Woad's rise since turning professional has been rapid. In July 2025, she became the first golfer in history to earn LPGA Tour membership through the LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway after tying for third at the Amundi Evian Championship, according to LPGA.com. Days later, she won the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open in her professional debut, becoming only the third player in LPGA Tour history to win in her first start as a pro, joining Rose Zhang in 2023 and Beverly Hanson in 1951 — she closed at 21-under-par for a three-stroke victory at Dundonald Links.
A Rookie Season That Kept Building
Woad's rookie season in 2025 wasn't just about that debut win. She made seven cuts in nine events and earned $831,443, the Globe's report notes, before finishing tied for 15th at last year's FM Championship at 11 under par. Her amateur pedigree hinted at what was coming: she reached World No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking in June 2024 and won the 2024 Augusta National Women's Amateur by birdying three of her final four holes, per the AIG Women's Open. At Florida State, she set the school's career scoring-average record, won five collegiate titles and earned First-Team All-American honors five times.
This season, per the Globe's reporting, Woad has posted six top-10 finishes in 17 appearances, won the Kroger P&G Championship in Cincinnati in May, and has banked $1,469,820 in 2026 season winnings. She currently ranks third in greens in regulation and fourth in birdies on the LPGA Tour. She's also set to represent Team Europe at the Solheim Cup this year.
Record Purse, Deep Field At TPC Boston
The FM Championship has grown quickly since its debut. Under a five-year agreement with title sponsor FM, the tournament's purse is scheduled to climb annually from $3.8 million in 2024 to $5.0 million by 2028, rising to $4.1 million in 2025 and $4.4 million for this year's event. That 2026 purse, per Meet Boston, makes it the largest prize fund on the LPGA schedule outside the five majors and the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.
FM has also extended its partnership with TPC Boston through 2028, the Globe reports, and the tournament will lean on a bigger broadcast footprint this year, including slow-motion cameras, more microphones, drones and shot tracing — a production package the Globe says amounts to 50 percent more camera coverage than last year's event. Woad said the enhanced production has elevated the viewing experience, though she added that being sponsored by FM won't add extra pressure for her at her own tournament.
Dave Johnson, FM's senior vice president, called the venue critically important and said the golf industry is undergoing an exciting transformation, according to the Globe's account. The event's rapid rise hasn't gone unnoticed by players, either: the LPGA Tour named the FM Championship its Tournament of the Year for 2025, an honor tied to the event's execution and player hospitality, per FM.
A Loaded Leaderboard Chasing Last Year's Champion
Last year's winner, Miranda Wang, edged then-world-No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul by a single shot to capture the 2025 FM Championship. This year's field includes all of the LPGA Rolex Rankings' top 10 golfers, led by world No. 1 Nelly Korda, along with world No. 3 Haeran Ryu, who won the inaugural FM Championship at TPC Boston and is set to return in 2026. Also in the field are Alexa Pano, a Westborough native and pro since 2023 with one career win, and Meghan Khang, a Rockland native currently ranked 80th in the world.
When the inaugural FM Championship arrived at TPC Boston in 2024, it marked the return of official LPGA Tour professional golf to New England after a 20-year absence, a milestone Hoodline covered when the tournament was first announced. The course itself carries deep championship pedigree: originally designed by Arnold Palmer in 2002, TPC Boston underwent a major redesign in 2007 by architect Gil Hanse with input from former PGA Tour player Brad Faxon, according to CBS News. Before welcoming the LPGA, the Norton club hosted 17 PGA Tour events, including the Deutsche Bank Championship annually from 2003 to 2018 and THE NORTHERN TRUST in 2020.
