This week, Lottie Woad shared her thoughts on finally turning pro at Dundonald Links: “I am obviously very excited. I have been thinking about making my professional debut for a long time. Excited to do it more on home soil, as well. It’s going to be really fun.” A pretty solid emotion to share, especially considering her run at Dundonald Links. At the 2025 ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open, Woad kicked off the Thursday round with a score of 67. But she’s doing it all with a new caddie on her bag.

At the 2025 Amundi Evian Championship, Gary Foley was in her bag. Now, as per a recent report, Lottie Woad is being accompanied by Dermot Byrne, the same caddie who parted ways with Leona Maguire in 2024 following a three-year-long partnership. Interestingly, Bryne has also served as a caddie for the PGA Tour pro Shane Lowry. They remained together for a solid nine years.

But if his client list has anything to say about him, Byrne is likely going to prove a good addition to Lottie Woad’s team. For instance, with Dermot Byrne on her bag, Maguire scored a career-best run that included the 2022 Drive On Championship and the 2023 Meijer Classic. Following their split in 2024, Maguire said, “We enjoyed a few great years together and I was obviously very grateful for all of his help and guidance.”

Surely, Woad is going to enjoy a similar partnership with Dermot Byrne, especially considering his humor. In 2023, for instance, during a trip, Byrne updated his X followers with two pictures of a dirty public washroom and said, “Living the dream.” And although it is not yet confirmed how long they will work together, the question remains: why the sudden change? 

Why did Lottie Woad change her caddie following the 2025 Evian Championship?

Before we look at the possible reasons behind recent shifts in Lottie Woad‘s team shift, here’s an overview of everything leading to this point. Everything about Lottie Woad’s run at the 2025 Amundi Evian Championship was majestic, even dreamy. She carded an impressive 7-under 64 on Sunday at Evian Resort, even taking the lead at times during the round. Her 13-under-par total ultimately fell just one stroke short of a playoff between Grace Kim and Jeeno Thitikul.

This wasn’t the end, however. Despite falling short of clinching her first major win, Woad made history by becoming the first-ever amateur to earn an LPGA Tour card through the LEAP program. At the 2025 Amundi Evian Championship, she only required a top-25 finish to secure the 20th and final point needed to earn her LPGA Tour card through the LEAP program. So, despite such an amazing run, why did she change her caddie?

The first reason could be that at the 2025 Amundi Evian Championship Woad’s caddie wasn’t a permanent one, despite her historic win with him at the 2025 Irish Open. Second one? Woad explained following her first round at the 2025 ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open, “Yeah, he’s [Demot Byrne] just helping me out when I need a business of course management. Missed it in the right spots today, so that was really good.” 

In her first round, Woad only scored one bogey (par-4, hole 17), and her other stats looked quite alright as well. She hit 10 out of 14 fairways, averaged 278 yards off the tee, and sank 30 putts. Notably, she demonstrated strong iron play, hitting 16 out of 18 greens in regulation. Sure, she is worried now; however, she is still looking strong with her opening round finish (67) pushing her to the top of the leaderboard.

Let’s hope Byrne and she have a run just as successful as the one she had with her former caddie, Gary Foley.