AYRSHIRE, Scotland — We might as nicely pinch a lyric from an outdated Meatloaf music to explain Lauren Coughlin’s advantageous victory within the ISPS Handa Girls’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Hyperlinks: Two out of three ain’t unhealthy. Let’s hope we don’t need to pay any royalties.
Coughlin joined the LPGA again in 2018 and at last made her breakthrough on the circuit in final month’s Canadian Open. Her silver lining in Scotland means the American has now received twice in her final three begins. Not unhealthy in any respect, eh?
With a terrific show of poise and polish within the testing Ayrshire situations, Coughlin recovered from a shoogly begin and closed with a 3-under 69 for a 15-under mixture and eased to a four-shot conquer Germany’s Ester Henseleit.
“It’s unbelievable,” beamed Coughlin after selecting up the primary prize of $300,000.
“Two wins in three occasions is fairly loopy. If you happen to would have informed me (she’d have two wins) at the start of final 12 months, I wouldn’t consider it. It’s unbelievable. It simply exhibits how arduous I’ve labored to get right here.
“I used to be undoubtedly serious about (successful) the evening earlier than, however within the morning, I used to be fairly calm about it. I used to be simply making an attempt to remain within the current and tried not to consider successful. It’s actually a cliché, but it surely was one shot at a time. That’s what I used to be making an attempt to do. It’s superb.”
Together with her second win of the season within the bag, Coughlin has accomplished sufficient to safe her place on the U.S. Solheim Cup staff for subsequent month’s transatlantic tussle with Europe within the state of Virginia the place she grew up.
“I’ve had huge objectives for this 12 months with the Solheim Cup and all that,” added Coughlin. “In order that’s been on my thoughts. I knew I wanted to enhance and that’s what I’ve been making an attempt to do all alongside.”
On one other powerful day at Dundonald, Coughlin, who held a slender one-shot lead over Megan Khang after 54 holes, stumbled out of the blocks with two bogeys on her first 4 holes.
It actually wasn’t the beginning she was on the lookout for, however Coughlin is manufactured from stern stuff. A brace of birdies on the fifth and seventh helped to regular the ship and received her forward of Khang once more after her compatriot had nipped in entrance.
Lauren Coughlin poses with the trophy after successful the 2024 ISPS Handa Girls’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Hyperlinks Golf Course in Troon, Scotland. (Paul Devlin/Getty Photos)
“I began out just a little gradual,” mentioned Coughlin of that preliminary splutter. “However I managed to hold in there and was capable of settle properly.”
Khang’s problem pale as she didn’t make one other birdie after the fifth whereas Japan’s Ayaka Furue, the Girls’s Scottish Open champion in 2022, made a gallant push with a 68, which was a noble effort within the wind.
Henseleit, who took the silver medal within the Olympic golf occasion in Paris the earlier weekend, grew to become Coughlin’s largest menace on the again 9 however the American staved off her advances.
With a relaxed, composed efficiency, Coughlin picked up three birdies coming residence and single-putted her ultimate seven holes. A vital up-and-down on the twelfth underlined the standard of her scrambling when issues had been tight on the prime. The way in which she preserved her place of authority was mightily spectacular.
Coughlin trundled in a putt of 20-feet for an ideal par on the sixteenth, mounted one other good salvage operation from simply off the inexperienced on the seventeenth and holed a 25-footer for birdie on the final to complete with a flourish.
Coughlin now heads to St. Andrews for this week’s AIG Girls’s Open with a spring in her step. She might in all probability float over to the east coast on an updraft of her personal confidence. The Dundonald tune-up will stand her in good stead for the last word hyperlinks take a look at within the Auld Gray Toun.
“Clearly, you come over right here to get some reps on hyperlinks and within the wind (forward of The Open),” she mentioned. “It’s so completely different to being again within the States. The win is simply the cherry on the highest.”
Coughlin actually loved her time in Ayrshire. “Troon is a enjoyable place,” she added of her residence for the week. “I used to be staying in an Airbnb there. It’s superior.” She’ll be getting the liberty of the city at this charge.
Henseleit, a two-time winner on the Girls European Tour, signed off with a 70 for 11 underneath to complete runner-up once more after her Olympic silver.
“I had just a little go on the again 9, however Lauren performed superb golf,” mentioned Henseleit, who picked up a trio of birdies on her inward half. “Even when she was in bother, she received out of it actually rapidly. Her up-and-down on the sixteenth was fairly particular.”
Khang, who closed with a 74, shared third with Furue on 9 underneath whereas Charley Hull fell away with a 73 and was fifth on 8 underneath.
