Lauren Coughlin first met John Pond at a football Christmas party at the University of Virginia where they lived in the same dorm. Pond, a “mediocre center” on the football team, said his roommate at the time took her on one date, and they later bonded over the fact that she had a car.
Now they find themselves in the heat of battle together at the Amundi Evian Championship, where Pond is on the bag and his wife is one shot off the lead.
Pond proposed at the 2016 ACC Championship after the Cavaliers won the team title, and Coughlin captured her first individual win. Coughlin’s coach gave the mic to Pond during the trophy presentation, and he got down on one knee to pop the question.
Earlier this year, Pond quit his job in fundraising at Virginia to come travel with Coughlin full-time on the LPGA. After a stint of Pond caddying for her in the spring, Coughlin hired Annika Sorenstam’s longtime looper, Terry McNamara.
“I think I had no expectations this week, given that (John) hasn’t caddied for me in quite a while since Terry has been caddying for me,” said Coughlin.
“But I think he’s just my favorite person, so there is just a lot of – it’s just easy to be comfortable with him out there. He’s really starting to get the gist of how to caddie.”
Pond has looped for former Duke player Gina Kim in recent weeks.
Coming into the LPGA’s fourth major of the year, Coughlin made it a point to work on hitting off uneven lies, a requirement at hilly Evian. It paid off. This marks the first time she’s made the cut at this event in four appearances.
Earlier this season, the 31-year-old tied for third at the Chevron (with hubs on the bag). Currently eighth on the Solheim Cup points list (the top seven make the team), she’s on the cusp of making Team USA for the first time in a year when the competition won’t be too far from her Virginia home.
Coughlin might not be a household name, but she’s got a built-in fanbase with No Laying Up. She’s been part of their Young Hitters program since 2019 and has the NLU logo on the bag.
Coughlin, a rookie in 2018, has yet to win on the LPGA and is currently ranked 56th in the world. She won the 2018 PCH Classic on what was then the Symetra Tour. While her ball-striking has always been strong, it’s an improved short game that has made the difference in recent years.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Coughlin was fighting to keep her tour card. Now she’s in the hunt once again to win a major.
Here’s a look at Coughlin’s career through the years:
