Lauren Coughlin’s husband John Pond was the first to spray her with champagne on Sunday after the 31-year-old claimed the CPKC Women’s Open title at Earl Grey Golf Club.
And for the couple who have been on the professional golf rollercoaster together since Lauren turned pro in 2016, it was a long-awaited champagne shower that couldn’t have tasted any sweeter.
John proposed to Lauren after she won the ACC individual title in 2016 while at the University of Virginia, and the two were married on January 20, 2018.
Funny enough, that was also Lauren’s rookie year on the LPGA Tour, a dream scenario for a player who had nearly quit golf altogether after her first full season on the Epson Tour.
Her LPGA Tour career got off to a rough start, as Coughlin only made four cuts in her first year as a Tour member, which was not exactly the dream start she envisioned for herself on the biggest stage in women’s golf. She finished the year at 156th in the Race to the CME Globe and made just $12,625 in earnings, but she did pick up a victory on the Epson Tour that season, a win that gave Coughlin some hope that she could actually make a living as a professional golfer.
How sweet it is!
— LPGA (@LPGA) July 29, 2024
Soak it in, @LCisHOOSgolfin 😊 pic.twitter.com/ljc7ZMgolM
The 2019 season saw Coughlin make just one LPGA Tour start and compete primarily on the Epson Tour, where she finally seemed to find her footing as a professional athlete. Coughlin collected seven top-15 results that season, including a T2 showing in her first start of the year at the SKYiGOLF Championship.
She then improved her LPGA Tour status after finishing T41 at the Final Qualifying portion of the 2019 LPGA Qualifying Series, finding herself back amongst the world’s greatest players to once again give things another go in 2020.
But the COVID-19 pandemic limited the LPGA Tour schedule that season, and Coughlin only got to make five starts on the LPGA Tour, making just two cuts and ultimately finishing at 137th in the Race to the CME Globe, an improvement from her rookie season but nowhere near good enough to secure full playing privileges for 2021.
She began her fifth full year as a professional golfer with conditional status, making the cut in her first two events of the year to reshuffle up on the LPGA’s Priority List and earn more starts for the 2021 season, two made cuts that would ultimately make all the difference come the end of the year.
Coughlin made six cuts in her next 11 starts and came to the 2021 ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican needing a good result in order to finish inside the top 100 in the Race to the CME Globe and secure full status for the 2022 season. A T16 showing at Pelican Golf Club saw Coughlin finish at 97th on the season-long points list, a performance that was the equivalent of full-time job security for the journeywoman for the next year.
“It's a big relief knowing I'm going to play a full schedule next year and not have to worry about playing any (Epson) events or starting the year on Mondays,” Coughlin said at The ANNIKA in 2021. “It's just a huge relief. I'm a completely different player than I was back (in 2018). I'm just really excited to not have to go to Q-School.”
100% proved it today 😤 @LCisHOOSgolfin pic.twitter.com/rBxXPUNHiu
— LPGA (@LPGA) July 29, 2024
Coughlin made 23 total starts in 2022, earning five top-20 finishes, including a season-best tie for eighth at the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship, closing out the year at 78th in the Race to the CME Globe, easily keeping her status for the 2023 season.
The next year saw a more confident and consistent Coughlin collect seven top-25 finishes and miss eight cuts, improving from 78th to 66th in the Race, an upward trajectory that carried over into 2024, her seventh year as an LPGA Tour member.
She made her first four cuts of the season, finishing no worse than T34, and after a missed weekend FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship, Coughlin recovered quickly with a T8 showing at the Ford Championship presented by KCC in Gilbert, Ariz.
But her breakthrough moment came just two starts later, when Coughlin earned her career-best finish in a major championship and on the LPGA Tour at The Chevron Championship with her husband John on the bag, a performance that proved to be an early-season turning point for the American.
“Probably just relief, or maybe just, oh, wow, I can do it,” said Coughlin when asked what she was feeling after her final round at The Club at Carlton Woods. “That's definitely something that I've probably struggled with is having that belief that I am capable.”
And that self-belief has carried through the rest of the 2024 season. Coughlin tied for 14th at the Mizuho Americas Open and then tied for ninth at the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer before another stellar showing at The Amundi Evian Championship.
She had another chance to win her first Tour title in Evian-les-Bains, France, even leading or co-leading the major championship for most of the final round. But a pair of late bogeys on 16 and 17 spelled the end to her chances, and Coughlin closed out her week at Evian Resort Golf Club in solo fourth at 15-under overall, a tough finish but an overarchingly special week for Lauren and John, who was once again on the bag watching his wife’s latest success.
“Obviously, disappointing to finish how I did. I held the lead of a major for almost 15 holes today, or at least until hole 15, so I can be very happy about it. Again, a little disappointed about how I ended up finishing, but very happy,” said Coughlin. “It’s extremely special, and it's memories that (John and I are) going to have forever. He's my favorite person, and there is not really anybody else that I would like to have that kind of memory with.”
This week in Canada, John was looping for Gina Kim, and when the pair missed the cut at Earl Grey Golf Club, he got to spend the weekend in Calgary, Alberta as the proud husband in the gallery, rooting Lauren on as she contended for another LPGA Tour title.
Starting the day just one shot back of 54-hole leader Haeran Ryu, Coughlin battled the entire way through the final round, knowing that if she could just hang around and stay patient, something good would come.
A much-needed birdie late on the par-3 17th gave Coughlin a two-shot lead coming to the final hole of the CPKC Women’s Open, and she only needed a par to finally enter the LPGA Tour winner’s circle, a victory she immediately got to celebrate with John on the 18th green.
“(This win) just makes it all worth it,” said Coughlin in her winning press conference. “All the sacrifices that I made, that my husband made when I was just getting started, my family made when I was just getting started. A lot of people believed in me when I didn't, and I wouldn't be where I was without them.”
To the victor go the spoils, and while becoming a Rolex First-Time Winner on the LPGA Tour is certainly something that Coughlin will forever be proud of, there is another important accomplishment that her victory in Canada just might help Coughlin achieve.
The Solheim Cup will be played at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va., and for Coughlin, who currently calls the state home and who is a proud University of Virginia alum, potentially having the opportunity to play for the U.S. team in just under 50 days would be another dream come true for the 31-year-old.
“Certainly, I've been thinking about (the Solheim Cup) all season,” shared Coughlin, who entered the week at sixth in the U.S. Solheim Cup point standings. “I think what I was thinking about had shifted from just trying to make the team to trying to get myself as ready as possible if I did end up making the team. That's where my mind has been. Also, at the same time, trying to be in the moment as much as I could and let my golf do the talking for me.”
Her play in Canada will definitely speak volumes to U.S. Captain Stacy Lewis, who has three captain’s picks available if Coughlin doesn’t automatically qualify for the American squad based on points.
But the end of the Qualification Period is still a month away, and there will be time for Coughlin to fully digest the magnitude of that now eventuality if and when her Solheim Cup dreams do come to fruition.
For now, Lauren and John will soak in this moment and celebrate this triumph just like they overcame every tribulation and roadblock to get to this moment – together.
And the pair will revel in the fact that finally, after all the struggle and heartbreak and battling and grinding, Lauren Coughlin is an LPGA Tour champion.
At long last.
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