Lauren Coughlin thinks it’s kind of crazy and cool that she’s considered one of the hottest players on tour right now. It’s hard to argue with the results. Two victories in her last five starts – plus two additional top 10s – puts her in rare air.
The 31-year-old Coughlin once again finds herself on top of a leaderboard after an opening 3-under 69 at the new FM Championship. Coughlin sits tied with former No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul (formerly Atthaya), Yuri Yoshida and Nichole Broch Estrup at TPC Boston.
Recent AIG Women’s British Open winner Lydia Ko is taking the week off as is world No. 1 Nelly Korda and No. 2 Lilia Vu.
“Everything I’m doing is in prep for Solheim,” said Coughlin, who will make her Solheim debut in her home state of Virginia in two weeks. “I hope I can play well because it will mean that I can hopefully keep it going for Solheim, too. That’s kind of where I’m focused.”
While Annika Sorenstam’s longtime caddie Terry McNamara will be on her bag for the Solheim Cup, she has a new caddie this week in veteran Jeremy Young, whose wife, Heather Bowie Young, played for years on the LPGA.
After this week’s event, Coughlin has plans to see Pearl Jam at Madison Square Garden before throwing out the first pitch for the Norfolk Tides, her hometown Triple-A team.
She then plans to get back to work with McNamara beginning next Friday. Coughlin first played the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, host of three previous Presidents Cups, in Gainesville, Virginia, last March. She went again with McNamara in the weeks before and after the Amundi Evian in France. Before heading over to Scotland for two weeks, she took a fourth trip with Solheim teammate Allisen Corpuz.
The 2024 Solheim Cup will be held Sept. 13-15. Korda and Vu, fresh off contending at last week’s AIG Women’s British Open, headline the team of 12 vying to win for the first time since 2017, though it’s hard to imagine anyone having more supporters on the ground in Gainesville than Virginia’s Coughlin.
When it comes to what’s clicking for her so well this season, Coughlin points to her work on the greens after stumbling upon a new putter in the spring. Currently third on tour in greens in regulation and 21st in putts per green in regulation, Coughlin was 118th in that same putting category last season.
At this time last year, Coughlin was ranked outside the top 100 in the world. She’s currently 14th.
“I’m hitting the ball really well, hitting my spots, hitting my lines off the tee, and making putts. Kind of those 10-, 20-footers that I struggled to make a lot of, I’m rolling them really well right now,” she said.
“And just staying really patient and not trying to force things when it’s not there; onto the next shot or next hole; try to make a birdie again.”
