It was Lauren Coughlin who secured her second LPGA Tour victory in her last three starts after winning the 2024 ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links.
Coughlin, who won the 2024 CPKC Women’s Open, went into the final day in Scotland with a one-stroke lead. Coughlin didn’t get off to the best start with bogeys on the second and fourth holes, but soon recovered with birdies on the fifth and seventh holes. While German Esther Henseleit caught up, the 31-year-old made two birdies in a row on the 14th and 15th holes to extend her lead and secure a three-stroke lead. On the home stretch, the American brilliantly saved her par on the 16th hole before sinking her birdie putt on the 18th hole to secure a four-stroke lead.
“It’s unbelievable,” Coughlin said. “Two wins in three events is pretty crazy, but I just hung in there, tried to stay as present as I could and ended up sinking a couple of putts. If you would have told me that, let alone earlier this year, but earlier last year, I wouldn’t have believed what I accomplished and it’s unbelievable. It just shows how hard I’ve worked to get here and it’s unbelievable.”
Germany’s Henseleit continued her Olympic silver medalist performance with a second-place finish in Scotland. The two-time LET winner played solidly through the first nine holes before making two birdies on holes 10 and 11 to close in on Coughlin just after the turn. Henseleit dropped a shot on hole 13 before making another birdie on hole 14 to take second place.
“Today was fun,” Henseleit said. “I played really solid. I had a little bit of bad luck on the back nine, but Lauren played fantastic. Even when she was in trouble, she got out of it really quickly. She played well today. This week and last week are giving me a lot of confidence. I’m definitely enjoying my time on the golf course right now. I feel like the putter got a little hot at least this week and I holed some good putts, which is nice to see, and I’m looking forward to next week. My short game was really good. It’s always a little different coming here. I’ve been chipping around the greens. I’ve been working on that, and I would say over the last two years especially on my putting. I’m starting to see some really big improvements, and my iron play and short game are taking some of the pressure off as well. That’s nice to see.”
2022 ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open winner Ayaka Furue made a run at the end, getting to within three shots of the leader at one point but ultimately finishing with her second top-10 finish of the event. Megan Khang finished the week in a shared third place after being closely contested all week. Rounding out the top five is England’s Charley Hull in fifth, while defending champion Celine Boutier reached T25.
