Breakthrough LPGA Tour win for Lauren Coughlin

It feels like it's been a long time coming this season for Lauren Coughlin and after taking the second-round lead at the CPKC Women’s Open on Friday, the LPGA Tour veteran said, “grit and just being mentally tougher than a lot of people is just something that I've learned over the years just because I've had to work really hard and persevere a lot throughout my career.”

Those lessons certainly shone through on Championship Sunday in Calgary, as Coughlin toughed out her first LPGA Tour victory in her 103rd start on Tour. The American shot just a one-under-par 71 on Sunday, highlighted by a crucial birdie putt on the penultimate hole, but it was enough to earn a two-shot victory over Japan’s Mao Saigo.

“It's pretty incredible. I think I kind of went through a bunch of different things,” Coughlin said of becoming a Rolex First-Time Winner. When asked if the victory was worth the wait, she laughed, “Absolutely, yeah. No, it was -yeah, it's incredible.  The adrenaline and everything that I felt today and the emotions and everything, it was awesome.”

Watch final round highlights of the CPKC Women's Open

Coughlin held the first- and second-round lead at this year’s CPKC Women’s Open but lost her advantage to the Republic of Korea’s Haeran Ryu on Saturday. Starting the final round one shot behind the LPGA Tour sophomore, Coughlin said she felt the Championship Sunday nerves on the first tee but relied on the guidance of caddie Terry McNamara, who famously caddied for LPGA legend Annika Sorenstam, to stay calm.

Making it through the first three holes at even par, Ryu made her first birdie of the day on four after hitting her second shot within four feet of the hole. Coughlin nearly matched Ryu’s shot, hitting it to six feet, but missed the birdie putt to give Ryu a two-shot advantage. Luckily, Coughlin made up the deficit with a birdie on five and the pair continued to six right where they started. Coughlin made her first of two bogeys on the par-4 to give Ryu another two-shot lead, which the Korean golfer quickly lost and re-gained with a bogey on seven and birdie on eight.

Haeran Ryu with a two-shot advantage

Ryu’s two-shot lead at the turn became three when Coughlin dropped a shot on the par-5 10th, but Ryu’s round quickly soured when her tee shot on 11 found the water. It was a turning point for the young golfer, who still held a one stroke lead at that point but was beginning to feel the fatigue of a third week on the road.

“I'm so tired right now because too many long international flights,” Ryu said at the end of the day, earning her second consecutive top-three finish and eighth top-10 result of the year. “Lauren is strong, she didn’t play Dana last week. She rested and the last five holes, I think that's it.”

Coughlin and Ryu made par on holes 12, 13 and 14, and each dropped birdies on the par-5 15th to move to -12 and -13, respectively. Meanwhile, Japan’s Mao Saigo, who shot a record breaking 11-under-par 61 on Saturday to start the final round in a tie for third, was slowly creeping up the leaderboard.

Saigo made five birdies on Sunday with her last two coming on 14 and 15. Playing in the second to last group, her birdie on 15 moved her to -12 and into a tie for first with Coughlin and Ryu, when the latter made another bogey on 16. As the final group headed to 17, which would ultimately be the deciding hole, the three golfers were tied at -12.

Deciding birdie from Lauren Coughlin

After Saigo bogeyed 17 to drop to -11, where she would ultimately finish, Coughlin stuck her tee-shot on the par-3 to eight feet while Ryu landed on the left fringe. After Coughlin confidently made the birdie putt, Ryu missed her par putt and made her second bogey in a row to head to the final tee facing a two-shot deficit.

“I did watch to see if she made the putt or not,” said Coughlin. “I didn't know that Saigo was at 11 until I got to the tee box, and Terry told me that they were both at 11. So kind of at that point, my adrenaline was pumping.  My heart was racing pretty good.  Just took as many deep breaths as I could and which is why we hit 3-wood off the tee because he knew I was pretty jacked up. I just was trying to hit the fairway, hit the green, two putt, get out of there.”

Coughlin’s plan nearly came to fruition on 18. She hit the fairway but just barely missed the green, landing her second shot on the far-right fringe while Ryu hit her second shot into the TIO behind 18 green. Going first, Lauren nearly sank the over 50-foot putt from the fringe and ultimately made the short putt for par as Ryu made another bogey to finish -10 and tied third.

Patience pays off for Lauren Coughlin

In what has been her best season yet on the LPGA Tour, with four top-10 finishes including two top-three results in Major championships, Coughlin is finally an LPGA Tour champion. The result is a testament to her perseverance, as the American struggled when she first came on Tour in 2018 but has improved with each season on the LPGA Tour and Epson Tour.

“The people that believed in me from the very beginning who kept me going when I wanted to quit,” said Coughlin when asked who she thought about when lifting her first LPGA Tour trophy. “It's my family, my parents, my husband, my coach, John Llewellyn, Kim Llewellyn, college coach. I went to Kim Llewellyn's office after my rookie year on Epson wanting to quit and she kind of kept me in it and said, ‘it's normal to feel like that, you're not the only one.’ That was in 2017. So those are the people that I was thinking about. Just thankful that I have a really, really small but good circle around me.”

At the end of the day, Saigo finished solo second, her best result in her rookie year on Tour, while Ryu finished tied third alongside fellow Korean Jenny Shin.

Ahead of the women's Olympic Golf competition the LPGA heads to Columbia Edgewater Country Club for the Portland Classic.