After taking the second-round lead at the CPKC Women’s Open on Friday, LPGA Tour veteran Lauren Coughlin remarked, “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.”
These lessons were on full display during Championship Sunday in Calgary, as Coughlin battled her way to her first LPGA Tour victory in her 103rd start.
Despite a modest 1-under 71 final round, highlighted by a pivotal birdie on the penultimate hole, she clinched a two-stroke victory over Japan’s Mao Saigo.
“It’s pretty incredible. I think I kind of went through a bunch of different things,” Coughlin said about 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.”
Coughlin led after the first two rounds at this year’s CPKC Women’s Open but lost her lead to Haeran Ryu of the Republic of Korea on Saturday.
Entering the final round one stroke behind the LPGA Tour sophomore, Coughlin admitted to feeling the Championship Sunday nerves at the first tee but relied on her caddie Terry McNamara, who famously caddied for LPGA legend Annika Sorenstam, to maintain her composure.
After navigating the first three holes at even par, Ryu birdied the fourth hole after hitting her second shot within four feet.
Coughlin nearly matched Ryu’s shot, hitting it to six feet but missed the birdie putt, giving Ryu a two-stroke lead.
Coughlin quickly recovered with a birdie on the fifth hole, and the pair remained level at the sixth hole.
A bogey on the par-4 sixth gave Ryu another two-stroke lead, which she quickly lost with a bogey on the seventh and a birdie on the eighth.
Ryu’s lead grew to three strokes when Coughlin bogeyed the par-5 10th, but Ryu’s round began to unravel when her tee shot on the 11th hole found water.
Despite still holding a one-stroke lead, Ryu began to feel the fatigue of her third consecutive week on the road.
“I’m so tired right now because too many long international flights,” Ryu said at the end of the day, securing 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.”
Both Coughlin and Ryu made pars on holes 12, 13, and 14, and each birdied the par-5 15th, moving to -12 and -13, respectively.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Mao Saigo, who shot a record-breaking 11-under 61 on Saturday to start the final round tied for third, was slowly creeping up the leaderboard.
Saigo made five birdies on Sunday, with her last two on the 14th and 15th holes. Her birdie on the 15th moved her to -12, tying her with Coughlin and Ryu when the latter made another bogey on the 16th hole.
As the final group approached the 17th hole, the three golfers were tied at -12.
After Saigo bogeyed the 17th, dropping to -11, where she would ultimately finish, Coughlin landed her tee shot on the par-3 to eight feet while Ryu landed on the left fringe.
Coughlin confidently made the birdie putt while Ryu missed her par putt, resulting in her second consecutive bogey and leaving her two strokes behind heading to the final hole.
“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 I think 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 the 18th. 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 the 18th green.
Going first, Coughlin 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 for third.
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.
Her victory is a testament to her perseverance, as the American struggled when she first joined the Tour in 2018 but has improved with each season on the LPGA and Epson Tours.
“The people that believed in me from the very beginning who kept me going when I wanted to quit,” Coughlin reflected 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 for third alongside fellow Korean Jenny Shin.
