Lauren Coughlin felt stressed.
It was the start of 2024 and the former University of Virginia standout golfer kept thinking about two things: How much she wanted to represent the United States at the 2024 Solheim Cup and have the chance to do so in her home state, something no American has done since Tammie Green in 1998 at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio.
To reach her twin goals, Coughlin only had to earn enough U.S. Solheim Cup points based on her performance during the LPGA Tour to secure one of the top seven spots. Although Coughlin was capable of doing that, it still remained easier said than done.
But as the season went on and she played better, the Charlottesville resident experienced a mental shift. Inner peace replaced her self-imposed pressure.
Winning the CPKC Women’s Open in late July only reinforced that mindset. By capturing her first LPGA Tour victory in her 103rd career start, the 31-year-old Coughlin moved into the Top 30 Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings for the first time as well as moving into fifth place in the U.S. Solheim Cup points standings.
Although nothing was official, Coughlin was in a better position to start planning for the Solheim Cup.
“Now I need to start thinking about how I need to be prepared to play in [the Solheim Cup] and not just make the team and hopefully win as many points as I can,” Coughlin said.
After winning the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open last month for her fourth straight top 10 finish, Coughlin accomplished her objective. She had nailed down a Solheim Cup spot.
“Not only being on the Solheim Cup team, but it being in my home state obviously meant a lot. It’s something I really, really wanted,” Coughlin said. “I felt like I was putting a lot of pressure on myself at least at the beginning of the year. But as the season progressed, I was much less stressed about it and just tried to focus on what I could control, going and playing golf.”
After turning pro in 2016, the former ACC individual champion said she almost quit the sport twice. She struggled in her first full year on the LPGA Tour (2018), making only four cuts and earning just $12,625.
Coughlin did win once on the Epson Tour in 2018, but even then wasn’t sure professional golf was for her. But her husband John, a former University of Virginia football player, her college coach and her family persuaded her to stick it out. She’s glad they did.
In 2022, Coughlin recorded five top 20 finishes on the LPGA Tour. In 2023, she posted seven top 25 finishes.
“They had the belief in me well before I did, that’s for sure,” Coughlin said.
Hosting tournaments like the Solheim Cup typically involves a bidding process before a site is selected.
Living a 70-minute drive from Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, Coughlin has been a go-to partner for colleagues looking for someone to join them who is familiar with the course. She first played it in March and then twice this summer while the tour was on break due to the Olympics.
Before playing the course, Coughlin had been to RTJ once before, when she attended the PGA Tour’s 2015 Quicken Loans National.
Now she can play it in front of the hometown crowd. Growing up in Chesapeake, where she was the first female to play on the Hickory High School boys golf team all four years, Coughlin never thought this would become a reality.
“It’s pretty wild,” Coughlin said.