Women’s Scottish Open | 15 Aug 24 | |||||
Womens Scottish Open | 15 Aug 24 | |||||
CPKC Women’s Open | 25 Jul 24 | |||||
LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship | 06 Oct 22 | |||||
Lauren Coughlin (born September 27, 1992) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. In 2024, she won the Canadian Women's Open and the Women's Scottish Open.
Early life and amateur career
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 Golf Ranking.
Professional career
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 Championship. 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 LPGA 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 2024 Chevron Championship by two strokes ahead of Nelly Korda after the first round, ultimately finishing in a tie for 3rd, trailing only Korda and Maja Stark. In July 2024, Coughlin won the 2024 CPKC Women's Open, the first LPGA Tour title for her. In August 2024, she won the 2024 ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open, added her second victory.