That the tour could lose money at a time of unprecedented growth in women’s sports set off alarm bells for some.
The grade of an LPGA commissioner is largely attached to one thing: the schedule.
How many tournaments are being staged and how big are the purses?
But there’s another bottom line that’s important and less public, and that’s the tour’s operating budget. Multiple sources have confirmed to Golfweek that the tour is slated to lose around $2 million this year. LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said two weeks ago in her annual address that the tour’s total staff had increased by 35 percent in recent years.
The commissioner, who announced on Monday that she’s stepping down on Jan. 9, invested heavily on increasing exposure for the tour but, so far, has come up short in the return. The former Princeton athletic director said she was “building the infrastructure in order to build our global fan base.”
That the tour could lose money at a time of unprecedented growth in women’s sports – especially during a lucrative Solheim Cup year – set off alarm bells for some.
LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan speaks to the media prior to the CME Group Tour Championship 2024 at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
LPGA Player Director Ashleigh Buhai wasn’t too concerned about the loss, however, saying “you’ve got to spend money to make money.”
“Everybody who comes into a lead position is going to try to do things their own way to make their own mark,” said Buhai, “and sometimes you pull it off, and sometimes you don’t.”
Given the starry headlines of 2024 – with the dynamic one-two punch of Nelly Korda’s seven-win season and Lydia Ko’s fairy-tale run into the LPGA Hall of Fame – some players were surprised to see a schedule come out that showed little growth. Official money for 2025, thus far, is up $3.6 million from last season.
“We’re moving in the right direction all the time, but the schedule is very much major heavy,” Ireland’s Leona Maguire said two weeks ago at the CME Group Tour Championship.
“The purses in the majors do disguise some things, I feel like, and the gap between us and the men seems to be growing rather than us catching up. … There couldn’t possibly have been any better golf played. I’ll just say that.”
Nelly Korda poses with the winner’s trophy after winning The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican 2024 at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida. (Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
As the tour sets out to find new leadership, Tim Erensen of Outlyr, a global sports, event management and lifestyle marketing agency that runs a number of LPGA events, said it’s important to find a leader who can drive corporate support to the tour and its tournaments.
“We need help with marketing partners,” said Erensen, noting the wide gap between the LPGA and PGA Tour in this area.
For former World No. 1 Stacy Lewis, communication needs to be a priority in whoever comes in next.
“You’ve got to make the tournament sponsors, the players, the tournament directors be on the same page more,” said Lewis, “more cohesiveness, more working together across the board. … Everybody’s got to work together for the same goal, and knowing what that goal is is important.”
For Buhai, the three most important areas for players in a commissioner are the ability to build trust, communication and set forth a vision for players.
Stanford grad Andrea Lee was recently elected to the LPGA Board and hopes that as a player-director she can help the tour capitalize more on the moment.
“How can we market the tour better; how can we market the top players in the world a bit better?” Lee asked last month while at the CME.
“With women’s sports overall growing exponentially, the LPGA kind of needs to do the same.”
Maguire called sitting out of an entire day of Solheim Cup matches a “bitter pill to swallow.”
Leona Maguire called sitting out of an entire day of Solheim Cup matches last Saturday a “bitter pill to swallow.” The gritty Irishwoman noted that European captain Suzann Pettersen didn’t give her much reason, but that the feeling she got was that leadership felt her game was too short and she didn’t make enough birdies for the setup at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.
In Sunday singles, when everyone plays, the player nicknamed “MVP” by her peers, put up five birdies in 15 holes to win 4 up over Ally Ewing. Maguire said she felt like she proved there’s “more than one way to skin a cat.”
Fast forward to this week’s Kroger Queen City Championship, where the former Duke star opened with a 67 at TPC River’s Bend.
She was asked after that round if the 67 was a message to Pettersen.
“No, I mean, me and Suzann are on very good terms,” Maguire told Golf Channel. “I have a lot of respect for her. She was a hero of mine growing up. Ultimately, it was her decision last week. She did what was best for the team.
“I would’ve been happy to sit out every match if it meant we brought back the trophy. I knew my game was in good shape. Showed that in the singles last week, and just trying to finish off the season as strong as I can.”
In her first two Solheim Cup appearances, Maguire played in all five matches and was the heart of the lineup. She played only twice in Virginia, where Team USA won the Solheim for the first time since 2017.
Maguire, who ultimately tied for 45th at the Kroger, said it had been a rough couple of months leading into the Solheim and that she hasn’t enjoyed her golf as much as she would’ve liked. The Solheim served as a reminder of how fun the game can be, even if her role turned out much differently than anyone expected.
After Europe lost the cup, Pettersen was asked about her decision to sit Maguire for so many sessions. The fiery Norwegian said she doesn’t live her life with regrets.
“You’d rather play with your gut feel and your heart,” she said. “Sometimes you get outplayed.”
Sunday was a sigh of relief for the Americans. For the first time in seven years, the U.S. team knocked off the Europeans to win the 2024 Solheim Cup.
There were numerous standouts for the United States at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, including Megan Khang and Virginia native Lauren Coughlin, but none moreso than Rose Zhang, the 21-year-old phenom who went 4-0-0, including a dominating 6-and-4 victory in singles against Carlota Ciganda.
Zhang’s second Solheim Cup appearance went a lot better than her first last year in Spain, where she admitted she struggled to get comfortable while going 0-2-1 at Finca Cortesin.
On home soil, she had a historic week.
Zhang is the eighth different player and third different American in Solheim Cup history to finish 4-0-0 or better. The other two Americans to go 4-0-0 are Dottie Pepper (1998) and Morgan Pressel (2011). She is also the first player ever to go 4-0-0 or better and never reach the 17th hole in any match. This week, Zhang led all players by winning 28 holes and only losing eight; that 20+ win/loss hole differential is the most dominant in the last 20 years.
The next best performance over that time is Jessica Korda in 2019, winning 29 holes and losing 14 holes
“It’s been absolutely incredible,” Zhang said of her week. “I feel like starting off the beginning of the week, I just felt so comfortable with everyone. The whole team has just been — they’ve just been so friendly, and everyone has had a good time in the team room, on the golf course. Like Stacy (Lewis) said, it translated over to the golf course.
“I felt a lot more loose than I did last year, and it was good vibes all around.”
Rose Zhang of Team USA reacts after her putt on the second green during single matches against Team Europe during the Solheim Cup 2024 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images
Khang (3-0-0), Coughlin (3-0-1) and Andrea Lee (2-0-1) were the other Americans to go undefeated. It is the second time the U.S. team had that many undefeated players at one Solheim Cup.
Zhang’s dominance was no surprise to U.S. Captain Stacy Lewis, who along with stats guru Justin Ray put together a plan with plenty of data to lead the Americans to victory.
“The golf course was made for you, Rose,” Lewis told her star after winning Sunday.
GAINESVILLE, Va. — One of the biggest concerns Team USA captains had coming into the 19th Solheim Cup was the 40-minute bus ride they had each day to and from Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. Team vibes can’t be found in the dirt or the data.
When they got on the bus that first day, there weren’t any speakers, noted assistant captain Angela Stanford. That’s when Nelly Korda came to the rescue. The World No. 1 found a speaker and helped turn the bus rides into an epic experience. For the past two nights, players and caddies entered the hotel jamming to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.” People in the bar cheered.
“She set the tone for the week,” said Stanford of Korda’s demeanor. “I think when one of your best players is relaxed, it lightens everyone up.”
No one really wanted to talk about pressure entering this week, but the U.S. had never lost four cups in a row. Had the outcome at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club gone differently, the cries of “What’s wrong with Team USA?” would’ve been rung loudly for the next two years.
For a long time, it looked like Lexi Thompson might end her Solheim Cup career by clinching the cup. Such storybook endings are popular at the biennial event. Alas, it wasn’t to be for the player who spent more than a decade as the face of American golf.
Lexi Thompson of Team USA lines up a putt on the second green during single matches against Team Europe during the Solheim Cup 2024 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images
That honor went to World No. 2 Lilia Vu, who had 103 yards downwind for her approach shot into the 18th, her least favorite number to hit. Down 1 hole going into the 18th against European rookie Albane Valenzuela, Vu looked at the leaderboard and knew she had to deliver. She stuffed it to 18 inches to tie the match and secure the last half point.
“It’s a lot of pressure, but that’s what you work hard for all your life,” said Vu. “This is the moment. That was my moment.”
The final tally of 15½-12½ belies how close it felt out there. Europe actually won the singles session.
“At 2:25 we were still out there having a chance at this remarkable,” said European captain Suzann Pettersen, “and I don’t think the Americans anticipated such a fight from us.”
Lauren Coughlin, the 31-year-old Virginian who waited longer than anyone for this chance, went 3-0-1 for the week, mounting a tremendous comeback on Sunday against Maja Stark to secure a late half point. Lewis took a diverse group of phenoms and late-bloomers who are largely introverted and gave them a simple message: “You be you.”
No one looks more comfortable on a Solheim Cup stage than Megan Khang, the hype player with substance. For a second consecutive cup, Khang went undefeated with a 3-0-0 record, her voice hoarse from all the cheering.
Rose Zhang said the week reignited her passion for golf. She became the eighth player, and third American, in Solheim Cup history to finish 4-0-0. She’s also the first player to never reach the 17th hole in any match.
“I felt a lot more loose than I did last year,” said Zhang, “and it was good vibes all around.”
The fun transferred from the bus and the team room to the course, with players showing a side of themselves that most, including Lewis, had never seen.
Team Captain for Team United States Stacy Lewis reacts with her team after winning the Solheim Cup during the Sunday Singles matches during the final round of the Solheim Cup 2024 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on September 15, 2024 in Gainesville, Virginia. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
“I know their personalities and I’m around them off the golf course, but to do that in front of everybody and to feel comfortable doing that,” said Lewis, “I knew we were doing a lot of things right behind the scenes.”
Buses, it turns out, were a theme of the week. While the Americans were rockin’ out on their bus, thousands of fans waited two to three hours to simply board one. The first tee on Friday morning was a shell of itself as a transportation failure of monumental proportions spoiled a day of celebration in the women’s game.
Mercifully, the tour managed to get it sorted for the weekend and the focus shifted back to golf, where Lewis put into practice the road map she and stats guru Justin Ray put together heading into the week.
Lewis’ motto for the week was “Unfinished Business” after last year’s heartbreaking tie in Spain, which sent the cup back to Europe. Ray’s theme was “run the football.”
“We are a run the football, ground and pound team,” said Ray. “We were going to hit it to 15 feet over and over and over again.
“We knew all along on this golf course that the strength of our team is going to be mid- to long-range approaches. We didn’t want to put a bunch of wedges in the European’s hands. If we had 6-, 7-, 8-irons in our hands, that’s what’s going to be our advantage.”
Nelly Korda of Team USA plays her shot from the third tee during single matches against Team Europe during the Solheim Cup 2024 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images
On Sunday, Korda skipped out of the tunnel in front of an electric crowd to face Charley Hull in a marquee opener. That match was the only thing that didn’t go Korda’s way this week. Hull smoked her, 6 and 4, but it did little to dampen the overall week for a player who’d won six times in the first half of the season, including her second major.
“This was probably the most fun I’ve had on a golf course – ever,” said Korda. “Just the team, the team environment, the caddies, everyone getting along, the fans. Everyone was so incredible. We all vibed really well off of each other. This is probably the most I’ve laughed and the most I’ve fist-pumped ever on a golf course. It was just an amazing week and a dream come true.”
Beth Daniel, one of 10 past U.S. captains on the ground in Virginia, said Lewis has forever changed the Solheim Cup over the past three years. She brought in KPMG to fund an analytics program that completely shifted the way pairings were picked.
The data enabled Lewis to explain her strategy to players – why she wanted to play them where and with whom.
“In the past, some players were like, ‘I’m not playing, but nobody is telling me why,’ ” said Stanford. “She makes you buy in.”
But it’s not just the data. Lewis wanted to build up the appreciation players had for the history of the cup. For example, every American who has ever played the Solheim Cup now has a number. All 69. Daniel is No. 1. Lewis wanted them all to know their place in what’s become the crown jewel of the LPGA, and mostly importantly, she wanted them to love it.
Her holistic approach to the job of captaincy included looking at everything from how much money was budgeted to each area to how many inside-the-ropes passes former captains received (two, for the first time!). Former captains even had their own locker room, and it was deeply appreciated.
Captain for Team United States Stacy Lewis reacts with Assistant captains Paula Creamer and Brittany Lincicome after Team United States wins the Solheim Cup during the Sunday Singles matches during the final round of the Solheim Cup 2024 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on September 15, 2024 in Gainesville, Virginia. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Rare is the player who’s focused not only on the present, but the past and the future as well. Lewis wanted to lay out a blueprint that not only led to more success for Team USA, but made things easier for whoever comes next.
“She just paid attention to every single detail of the Solheim Cup,” said Daniel, “and took it all seriously.”
As the team gathered to take photos with the trophy on the 18th green, Lewis’s husband, Gerrod Chadwell, stood over to the side with their 5-year-old daughter Chesnee. No one knows how much heart and how much sacrifice went into this more than Chadwell, who watched his wife put in many late nights.
“I think she would trade everything that happened in her life up to this point for that,” said an emotional Chadwell, adding “I’ve never wanted something more for somebody in my life.”
On the eve of the final round, Lewis said the joy she saw radiating from her players on the first tee all week meant more to her than the scoreboard.
Zhang, playing in her second cup, finished 4-0-0 to become only the eighth player in Solheim history and third American to finish 4-0-0 or better.
Combined with Lauren Coughlin’s 3-1-0 week and Khang’s 3-0-0 record, it’s the first time three Americans have gone 3-0-0 or better in one Solheim Cup. In 1994, both Dottie Pepper and Brandie Burton finished 3-0-0.
“I just feel like the Solheim Cup reignited my passion for the game,” said Zhang, “and it was so fun to see so many people out here supporting. My teammates have been incredible.”
Lilia Vu was 2 down with two holes to play. The Europeans were making a push. The World No. 2 slammed the door shut.
The American ended their drought in the Solheim Cup thanks to Vu’s late heroics. She birdied the par-4 17th hole to extend her match against Albane Valenzuela, and then she hit a dart on 18 to a couple feet to win both holes, tie the match and earn a half point to give the United States its first win in the Solheim Cup in seven years, coming out on top at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, winning 15½-12½.
“I can’t even put it into words,” Vu said. “I felt like I didn’t do my part this week and I wanted to get something done. I said to my caddie on 16, I felt like I haven’t done anything for this team, and then 16 comes, and I’m in the back bunker.
“I feel like, ‘oh, no, I have to make up-and-down,’ and she’s been making one-putts on almost every single green so I thought she was going to birdie that hole too. She didn’t, and the then I ended up making up-and-down from the bunker and somehow birdied 17 and got it done on 18 to get the half point.”
Andrea Lee and native Virginian Lauren Coughlin also earn important half points Sunday afternoon, while Megan Khang, Rose Zhang and Allisen Corpuz won their matches for the U.S. to bounce back.
“I fight, that’s kind of what I do. I don’t give up on a round ever,” Coughlin said. “As long as I’m still in it, I’m going to keep playing.
“So I kind of just kept pushing and eventually started hitting shots how I normally do and finally started making some putts at the end.”
For Khang, it’s her second straight Solheim Cup going undefeated.
“The atmosphere is just electric,” she said of the week at Robert Trent Jones Golf club. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting the crowd very much involved. My voice can clearly be the victim of that. But I’d do it a million times over.”
The U.S. now leads the all-time series 11-7-1. The next Solheim Cup is scheduled for Sept. 7-13, 2026, at Bernardus in Netherlands.
It was a thrilling Sunday at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.
It all came down to this.
The 2024 Solheim Cup Sunday singles between the U.S. and the Europeans featured all 12 players on each side competing on the final day.
Coming in, the U.S. led the all-time series 10-7-1 but hasn’t won since 2017.
The Americans took a 10-6 lead into the final day, needing to earn 14½ points to win back the Cup.
The first match out was Nelly Korda vs. Charley Hull and the world No. 1 Korda was chasing most of the day. Tied through five holes, Hull won three consecutive holes to take a big lead through eight. She took it to 4 up through 12 and then 5 up through 13. Korda was 3-0 prior to Sunday singles.
“I knew that you had to play unbelievable to beat her, and to beat Nelly, she’s a great player, and I played my, well, my heart out,” Hull said. “I did what I had to do, and yeah, it was a pretty cool moment.”
Fans react to Lauren Coughlin of Team United States after her winning putt on the 15th green during the Saturday Foursomes matches against Team Europe during the second round of the Solheim Cup 2024 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on September 14, 2024 in Gainesville, Virginia. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
Rose Zhang, meanwhile, capped off a four-point week Sunday, just the fourth American to go 4-0 at the Solheim Cup.
“It was so incredible. I just feel like the Solheim Cup reignited my passion for the game, and it was so fun to see so many people out here supporting. My teammates have been incredible,” Zhang said. “We’ve been having so much fun, not only off the golf course but even on it. It’s just been an incredible ride. I’m very thankful to be in this position and excited to cheer the team on.”
“It meant the world because I really felt today that when I was kind of letting myself get down that I wasn’t doing anything for this team and didn’t see light at the end of the tunnel,” said Vu, who went 2-0-2 this week. “And then I got to 2 down, and then 16 I got away with an up-and-down save, and then was able to birdie 17 and 18. I don’t know how. It just happened. I know I looked in the fairway to the leaderboard, saw that we were at 14, so wanted to get that half point for us. Yeah, hit it to like a foot and a half, so got the job done.”
The best part about international golf competitions are the fans.
The best part about international golf competitions are the fans.
And the fans turned out at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia, for the 2024 Solheim Cup.
Due to a reshuffle of the schedule to get the event back on even years, there was only a one-year turnaround since the last competition.
This year marks the 19th Solheim Cup, with Team USA holding a 10-7-1 overall lead. The Americans tied the Europeans in 2023, which allowed the Euros to retain the cup.
Check out some photos of fans at the 2024 Solheim Cup.
The 2024 Solheim Cup goes to Sunday singles between the U.S. and the Europeans. All 12 players on each side are competing on the final day.
The U.S. leads the all-time series 10-7-1 with the first-ever tie coming one year ago. The Americans lead 10-6 as they look to win the Cup for the first time since 2017.
The Americans need to earn 14½ points to win the Cup.
Sunday singles pairings, tee times
8:50 a.m. ET
Nelly Korda (USA) vs. Charley Hull (Europe)
9 a.m. ET
Megan Khang (USA) vs. Emily Pedersen (Europe)
9:10 a.m. ET
Alison Lee (USA) vs. Georgia Hall (Europe)
9:20 a.m. ET
Allisen Corpuz (USA) vs. Anna Nordqvist (Europe)
9:30 a.m. ET
Rose Zhang (USA) vs. Carlota Ciganda (Europe)
9:40 a.m. ET
Andrea Lee (USA) vs. Esther Henseleit (Europe)
9:50 a.m. ET
Lexi Thompson (USA) vs. Celine Boutier (Europe)
10 a.m. ET
Lauren Coughlin (USA) vs. Maja Stark (Europe)
10:10 a.m. ET
Lilia Vu (USA) vs. Albane Valenzuela (Europe)
10:20 a.m. ET
Sarah Schmelzel (USA) vs. Madelene Sagstrom (Europe)
GAINESVILLE, Va. – Not long after Lauren Coughlin put up her third point for Team USA at the 19th Solheim Cup, she walked over to the rope line and signed for a group of girls from the Virginia Blue Ridge First Tee program, where Coughlin got her start.
Moments later, she posed with the women’s golf team from Randolph Macon College. Head coach Bryan Hearn has known Coughlin since she was 11 years old, back when he was an assistant pro at Greenbrier Country Club in Chesapeake.
“Just a full-of-life kid, loved the game of golf,” said Hearn of a young Coughlin. “A lot of time sitting in the pro shop eating hot dogs with me while I was working.”
Coughlin’s 3-0 start at the Solheim Cup is a celebration of a long, stubborn road. The 31-year-old played alongside Lexi Thompson – her third partner of the week – in morning foursomes on Saturday. While 29-year-old Thompson tees it up in her seventh and final Solheim Cup, Coughlin is just getting started. Their wildly different routes to the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club serve as a reminder that there’s no one path to excellence.
Yet it’s a fairly straight one this week.
“You go to that light and turn left and go about 65 miles, and there’s my house,” said Coughlin of representing her country for the first time – in any event – at a home Solheim Cup. “So that’s pretty awesome.”
While Nelly Korda owned the first half of the LPGA season, Coughlin emerged as the best American player heading into the Solheim Cup. A two-time winner on tour since July, it wasn’t all that long ago that Coughlin was fighting for her job. Not long before that, she was thinking about quitting the game. Her college coach at Virginia, Kim Lewellen, convinced her otherwise.
Lauren Coughlin signs autographs for girls from her First Tee chapter at the Solheim Cup. (Golfweek photo)
Lewellen, now head coach at Wake Forest, first watched Coughlin compete at a state junior championship and was impressed with her athleticism. She then watched her shoot 66 at her high school championship and took note of the way she engaged the people around her. Coughlin grew up playing in regional events on the Peggy Kirk Bell Tour. Her mom, Yvette, didn’t find out about the AJGA until she was well into high school.
Couglin walked on at Virginia where she met her husband John Pond, who played football for the Cavaliers. She never competed in any USGA events as an amateur because she took classes in the summer to keep her spring schedule light.
“She was all about the team,” said Yvette.
Coughlin was 6 years old the first time she picked up the a set of cut-down ladies clubs her father, Michael, bought. Coughlin had a natural swing from the start, though dad notes she was so small at the time, that it looked like the club was swinging her.
Coughlin also played tee ball, basketball and taekwondo as a youth. She’s ambidextrous, playing lefty tennis and righty golf. Michael credits some of that to taekwondo.
“When she shoots the basketball, she can drive the hoop the same from both sides,” he noted.
A feel player from the get-go, Michael said his daughter got better every year, but she never tried to change too much at once.
After Coughlin graduated from Virginia, Lewellen’s husband John took over as coach. John Lewellen, a self-described swing geek, put himself through seminary by giving golf lessons. The Episcopal minister actually married Couglin and Pond 4½ years ago, the same year she started playing full time on the LPGA.
That first season on the LPGA was rough, with Coughlin earning only $12,625 in 18 starts on tour. She spent the next two years on the Epson Tour before making her way back out to the LPGA in 2021.
Over the past three years, Coughlin has morphed from a player fighting to keep her tour card to a top-10 player in the world. With five top-10 finishes in her last six starts, including two victories, one could argue that she’s the hottest player on the LPGA right now, outside of perhaps Lydia Ko.
Several factors have gone into this transition. She stumbled across a dream putter in a pile while husband John was getting fitted at Ping’s headquarters earlier this spring. That unlocked something special for a player who has long been a premiere ball-striker.
Pond and Coughlin also made a big family decision earlier this year when John quit his job in fundraising at the University of Virginia to travel full-time with Lauren. While he has caddied some for Coughlin throughout the season, his presence even when not on the bag has meant a great deal.
“She’s not missing home,” said Yvette. “She’s more comfortable; she’s happy.”
Coughlin made another bold move this year, reaching out to Annika Sorenstam’s longtime caddie, Terry McNamara, to see if he’d come back on tour to work for her.
McNamara got emotional after Coughlin won her match on Saturday.
“She’s had to work so hard,” he said of what makes Coughlin special. “She appreciates it.”
Lauren Coughlin of the United States looks over the 16th green with her caddie during Day One of the Solheim Cup at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on Friday, September 13, 2024 in Gainesville, Virginia. (Photo by Amy Lemus/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
In the run-up to the Solheim, Coughlin came out to Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on four separate occasions to get used to the property. The first time McNamara walked the course with her in July, he said something simple that made a world of difference: “What you do is good enough.”
“I don’t need to be doing anything special,” said Coughlin. “I don’t need to be trying too hard. I don’t need to want it too much. All I need to do is just go be myself and see what happens.”
That extra dose of self-belief has pushed Coughlin into rare air.
The first American rookie to start 3-0-0 since Pat Hurst in 1998, Coughlin could become the first American rookie to win four points in Solheim Cup history on Sunday. Paula Creamer was the last American rookie to win 3½ points in 2005.
“It’s the best to watch somebody raise their level in the biggest environment in their sport, it’s special,” said Pond of his wife’s play this week. “It’s what dawgs do. That’s what she’s been all week. She’s a dawg.”
After Coughlin won the Scottish Open in August, she headed over to St. Andrews on Sunday night and walked into the famed Dunvegan to celebrate.
“I got a standing ovation and they played ‘We are the Champions,’ ” she gushed while standing in front of the Royal and Ancient Clubhouse. “It was incredible, bucket-list type stuff.”
Coughlin’s parents can’t get over how many people know their daughter’s name. Here at the Solheim Cup, Yvette can’t help but turn around and look to see if it’s someone they know.
“If they find out that I’m her dad and that’s her mom,” said Michael, “it’s like we turn into rockstars.”
Of course, Coughlin had a built-in fanbase long before she became Solheim famous. When No Laying Up announced several years ago that they’d be sponsoring up-and-coming players as part of their Young Hitters program, Coughlin sent a direct message to Todd “Tron Carter” Schuster and, six months later, received a green-light reply. One coffee shop meeting later, Coughlin suddenly had a nationwide network of support.
Lauren Coughlin and husband John Pond (2024 Solheim Cup photo)
After Coughlin’s summer victory at the CPKC Women’s Open, she talked on an NLU podcast about telling husband John that she’d get him a nice boat after her share of third at the Chevron Championship rather than a percentage of her check. But then after Pond caddied for her again at the Evian Championship, where she finished fourth, she told him the boat just got bigger.
As Coughlin signed autographs on Saturday, John was given a sign that said “LC, how big is the boat now?
