American Lauren Coughlin Wins Women's Scottish Open

Having waited years for her maiden title, American Lauren Coughlin secured her second LPGA Tour title in three weeks as she held on to the overnight lead to win Women's Scottish Open and will now head to the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews as one of the favourites.

The world number 26 led fellow American Megan Khang by a stroke going into the final day at Dundonald Links and carded a three-under 69 for a four-shot victory.

She dropped shots at the second and fourth but bounced back with five birdies, including three in the final five holes, to finish 15 under.

Germany's Esther Henseleit - a silver medallist at the recent Paris Olympics - again had to settle for second, with Khang a further two strokes back alongside Ayaka Furue of Japan.

England's Charley Hull, who began the final round three strokes adrift, finished fifth on eight under.

Having won her first LPGA Tour title at the CPKC Women's Open in Alberta, Canada, last month, 31-year-old Coughlin has now added her second in quick succession and in the process has secured her place in America’s Solheim Cup team for the match against Europe next month in Gainesville, Virginia.

"I think if you would have told me [I would win two titles] - let alone at the beginning of this year but probably the beginning of last year - I probably wouldn't believe you at all," she said. 

"But it's incredible and it just shows how hard I've worked to get here. It's amazing."

On her poor start to the final round, Coughlin added: "I knew it was playing super tough and that bogeys were unavoidable. I had done a pretty awesome job the previous two rounds not making any.

"I knew that it was fine to make a couple but I could still go make some birdies coming in."

What You Need to Know About Lauren Coughlin

Coughlin was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and grew up in Chesapeake, Virginia. She started playing golf at the age of seven, and was named the Chesapeake Scholar Athlete in 2008, 2009 and 2010. She became the first female to play four years on the Hickory High School boys team, and finished runner-up in the Girls Championship of the Virginia State Golf Association in 2009 and 2010.

She won the Virginia Women's Amateur back-to-back in 2012 and 2013. In 2014, she won the Virginia Women's Stroke Play Championship.

Coughlin attended the University of Virginia between 2011 and 2016, where she was named All-American and was 2016 ACC individual champion. After winning the ACC Championship, she moved to 31st in the world amateur rankings.

Coughlin turned professional in 2016 and started playing on the Symetra Tour, where she won the 2018 PHC Classic in Wisconsin. The win earned her a start in her first major, the 2018 Evian. She joined the LPGA Tour in 2018 after securing her card by finishing in a tie for seventh at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament. 

In 2022, Coughlin made 13 cuts in 23 starts with a season-best result a tie for sixth at the Mediheal Championship. In 2023, she made 15 cuts in 23 starts with her best finish a tie for sixth at the CPKC Women’s Open in Canada.

In March 2024, Coughlin revealed that her husband John Pond, a former University of Virginia football player, had quit his job to begin an apprenticeship caddying for her full time. A few weeks later she led the Chevron Championship by two strokes ahead of Nelly Korda, ultimately finishing in a tie for third, trailing only Korda and Maja Stark. 

In July 2024, Coughlin won the 2024 CPKC Women’s Open for her first LPGA Tour title. She averages 261.57 yards from the tee, hits 78.35% of fairways and finds 73.24% of greens in regulation. She averages 30 putts per round, gets up and down from the sand 37.04% of the time and has a scoring average of 70.45.