Former UVA star Coughlin wins Scotland Open, stays red hot

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Posted on Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024, 9:56 pm

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By Jerry Ratcliffe

Photo: Golfweek

Laura Coughlin’s magical ride on the LPGA Tour continued on Sunday when she claimed her second tournament victory in her last three events, storming to a win in the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links.

The former University of Virginia star pulled away and won by four strokes over Germany’s Esther Henseleit, the recent Olympic silver medalist.

Coughlin, who won the Canadian Women’s Open a few weeks ago, has reeled off four consecutive top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour. She also has three more top 10s this season and has locked up a spot on the U.S. team for next month’s Solheim Cup at Robert Trent Jones Golf Course in Manassas, only about 80 miles from Charlottesville.

“It’s unbelievable,” said the 31-year-old Coughlin in her winning press conference. “Two wins in three events is pretty crazy, but I just stuck in there, tried to stay as present as I could and got some putts to drop at the end.”

Her putting has certainly been a big part of her major leap on Tour this year. She had fewer putts on the week than anyone in the Scottish Open field.

Last year, Coughlin was No. 123 in strokes gained putting on the LPGA Tour. This year she ranks No. 16.

She posted plenty of birdies Sunday, on Nos. 5 and 7 to make up for two early bogeys, then added three more birdies over the final five holes, including a delicate putt on the par-5, 18th, allowing her to win by four strokes.

Battling the wind and rain at Dundonald Links, she finished the week tied for fifth in fairways hit and tied for seventh in greens in regulation, and finished it off with her superb putting performance.

“[Saturday] night, I was definitely thinking about it, but this morning I was pretty calm about it,” Coughlin said. “Just trying to stay super present and not think about winning. It’s really cliche, one shot at a time, but that’s really what I was trying to do.”

Henseleit played well, but couldn’t overcome Coughlin’s accuracy in every aspect of the game.

“Lauren played amazing,” the German said. “Even when she was in trouble, she got out of it really quickly.”

Coughlin’s husband, former UVA football player John Pond, is going to have to build a bigger trophy case after this run.

“If you would have told me, let alone beginning of this year, but beginning of last year, I wouldn’t believe this is what I’ve done, and it’s incredible,” Coughlin said. “It’s just how hard I’ve worked to get here and it’s amazing.

“I’ve had big goals for this year with Solheim and all that, so that’s what had been on my mind, and preparing for and trying to get ready for. I knew I needed to improve and that’s what I’ve been trying to do all along. The goal is just going to be kind of trying to keep rolling into Solheim.”

With her success in Scotland, Coughlin joined Nelly Korda and Hannah Green as the only multiple winners on the LPGA Tour in 2024.