Lauren Coughlin’s Decade of Determination

By Rick Woelfel

One step at a time. That’s how Lauren Coughlin’s rise on the LPGA Tour has unfolded. Not with flash or fireworks, but through perseverance and a steady commitment to hard work.

Coughlin, who turns 34 in September, has been a professional golfer for 10 years, eight of them on the LPGA Tour. Like many of her peers, she has faced her share of struggles. After a disappointing rookie season in 2018, she returned to the Epson Tour. At one point she even considered giving up competitive golf, but her persistence paid off. Her career began trending upward again, culminating in a breakout 2024 season when she won the CPKC Women’s Open in Canada in July and the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open three weeks later. She finished the year ranked 10th on the money list with more than $2 million in earnings.

In September, she delivered a 3-0‑1 record for the victorious U.S. team at the Solheim Cup, played at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia, roughly 137 km from her home in Charlottesville.

“It was the best week of my life so far,” she said. “It was so much fun from the moment everyone got together Sunday night before it started, the caddies, the players, the captains, and our significant others. Getting to do it just over an hour from where I live, right outside our nation’s capital, I don’t think I could have dreamed it up any better.”

Coughlin represented the United States again at the 2025 Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown in Korea. The Americans lost to the host nation in the championship match, but the event only deepened her love for team competition.

“It’s just so different,” she said. “I love match play. It’s great having teammates and people cheering you on. And honestly, it’s pretty nice not having to compete against Nelly Korda and instead having her on your side.”

Coughlin earned her third LPGA victory at the Aramco Championship in Las Vegas. She says she has matured both as a golfer and as a person.

“I’ve always been a really strong ball striker,” she said. “But over the last couple of years, I’ve become a really good putter, and that’s been a big reason I’ve taken the next step. I’m more confident and more comfortable being out there week in and week out.

“My first couple of years, I was a little bit ‘deer in the headlights,’ like, ‘Holy crap, I’m out here on the LPGA Tour.’ I haven’t felt like that in four or five years.”

A major part of her growth has been learning not to let her results define her.

“It can be really difficult not letting how you perform on the golf course affect you off it,” she said. “It’s very cliché, but it’s what I do, it’s not who I am. It took me a couple of years to really be able to leave bad days at the golf course and not be depressed when I got home.”

Over time, Coughlin has learned to understand and accept the strengths and limitations of her game. She won only once during her college career at the University of Virginia: the 2016 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship.

“I think I’ve done a pretty good job of not trying to be something I’m not,” she said. “Just trying to get better in the areas that need to get better.

“I’m never going to be Nelly Korda. I’m never going to be six feet tall and lanky. I’m not as physically gifted in terms of how far she can hit it. But I can consistently do other things really well that make up for the lack of distance.”

Coughlin credits her husband, John Pond, as a major source of support. The couple met as undergrads at Virginia, where Pond played football. They’ve been together 14 years and married for eight; Pond proposed on the final green after Coughlin won the ACC Championship.

Pond left his job at UVA to caddie for her during her breakthrough 2024 season and continues to caddie on the LPGA Tour today.

“I’ve got to credit my husband a lot,” Coughlin said. “He’s been a big believer and supported me. He was an athlete himself. We talked through a lot of things when I was struggling.

“The easy thing would have been to quit, to say, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore, it’s too hard.’ But I think I love it deep down, and I didn’t want to quit. So, I didn’t. I kept figuring it out, trying different things, trying to get better. Talking through it helped, especially when things weren’t going well.”

Pond echoed that sentiment.

“She never quit when things got tough,” he said. “That’s what I admire most about her. It’s hard grinding on the Epson Tour and then losing your LPGA card. She never gave up, and it’s a testament to her determination.”

When asked which professional achievement means the most to her, Coughlin pointed to her longevity.

“This is my eighth season on tour. Ten years total playing professional golf.

“Not a lot of people can say they’ve played as long as I have. That’s a huge accomplishment, even before the wins and everything else. I loved playing for Team USA at the Solheim Cup this year, too.

“But I’d say the longevity, having a career that’s still going. If I can get to 10 or 11 years on the LPGA, that would be a huge achievement.”