Lauren Coughlin makes it two wins in three starts as she claims the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open by four shots
Just three weeks after securing her breakthrough victory at the CPKC Women's Open, American Lauren Coughlin has added a second title, winning the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open by four shots at Dundonald Links.
It was a dominant display on the links that Editor Emma was able to watch in person. Completely unflappable, nerves of steel and some sublime short game skills all added up to a victory which should give the 31-year-old another huge boost in confidence heading into the AIG Women's Open in St Andrews.
In the end, a three-under-par (69) round, which included five birdies and two bogeys, was enough for Coughlin to secure her second win on the LPGA Tour and her first on the Ladies European Tour.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Coughlin. “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.
“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. It’s just how hard I’ve worked to get here, and it’s amazing.”
Lauren Coughlin's final round
Coughlin didn’t get off to the best of starts with bogeys on the second and fourth holes, but soon bounced back with birdies on five and seven.
With Germany’s Esther Henseleit closing the gap, the Coughlin rolled in back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15 to extend her advantage and give herself a three-shot lead.
Down the stretch, the American made a great par-save on 16 after finding herself in the tricky greenside bunker, similar to her par save on 12, before rolling in her birdie putt on 18 to clinch a four-stroke victory.
“I felt like I just hit a couple of bad three-putts there,” she continued. “And then I was just unlucky getting in that bunker on two, but other than that, I played super solid all four days.
“I just tried to let the wind do what it did and try to not fight it too much and I was able to just hit the ball where I was trying to most of the time and good distance and then make some putts.
“The birdies are always like really good momentum and to keep the momentum going. Especially the one on 15 was huge. As soon as I hit the tee shot on 16, I was like, man, that really needs to sit, and then again just kind of unlucky where it ended up, but I hit a great pitch shot and was able to keep it going with the par-save.
“I really struggled in the wind up until last year when I came to this event, and it’s something that I’ve struggled with, but I’ve started to get figured out. A lot of it is just trying to not fight it too much and let the wind do what it needs to do and trust it as much as you can.”
Watch Lauren Coughlin's final round highlights from the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open
Germany’s Henseleit continued her excellent form, after securing Olympic silver last week, with a second-place finish in Scotland after a final round of two-under-par.
The two-time LET winner had a steady front nine before making back-to-back birdies on 10 and 11 to narrow Coughlin’s advantage.
Henseleit dropped a shot on the 13th before rolling in another birdie on the 14th and finished in outright second place on 11-under-par.
“It was fun today,” said the 25-year-old. “I was playing really solid. I had a little go on the back nine, but Lauren played amazing. Even when she was in trouble, she got out of it really quickly. She played well today.
“This week and last week are giving me a lot of confidence. I’m definitely enjoying my time on the golf course at the moment. I feel like the putter got a little bit hot at least this week and I holed some good putts, which is nice to see, and I’m looking forward to next week.
“My short game has been really good. It’s always a bit different coming here. I’ve been chipping around the greens.
“I’ve been working on it, and especially on my putting the last two years I would say. I’m starting to see some really big improvements, and also take some pressure off my iron game and my short game as well. It’s good to see.”
Final AIG Women's Open spots secured
Japan’s Ayaka Furue and American Megan Khang finished the week in a share of third place on nine-under-par with England’s Charley Hull in outright fifth place on eight-under.
Australia’s Gabriela Ruffels produced one of the rounds of the day with a four-under-par 68 to be in a share of sixth place alongside Korea’s Jin Young Ko.
One shot further back was American Schmelzel in eighth, New Zealand’s Lydia Ko was ninth with Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz and Sweden’s Lisa Pettersson rounding out the top 10 on three-under-par.
Three players secured their spots at next week’s AIG Women’s Open with Caroline Inglis, Lily May Humphreys and Haeji Kang qualifying through their results in Scotland.
In the LET Order of Merit, with her second-place finish Henseleit has jumped up from 20th to seventh place in the standings and now has 1,117.50 points.
Meanwhile, Hull has also climbed a few places in the rankings from eighth up to fifth with her result in Scotland.
View the full ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open leaderboard here.
Next week, the LET and LPGA head across to the east coast of Scotland, to St Andrews for the final Major of the season, the AIG Women's Open.
Tickets, including limited hospitality options, are still on sale for the AIG Women’s Open and can be purchased via the AIG Women’s Open ticket page here
