Lauren Coughlin came into the final day leading by one stroke at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open. She didn’t get off to the best of starts with bogeys on the second and fourth holes, but soon bounced back with birdies on five and seven. With Germany’s Esther Henseleit closing the gap, the 31-year-old American rolled in back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15 to extend her advantage and give herself a three-stroke lead. Down the stretch, Coughlin made a great par-save on 16 before rolling in her birdie putt on 18 to clinch a four-stroke victory, her second LPGA Tour victory in her last three starts.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Coughlin. “Two wins in three events is pretty crazy, but I just stuck in there, tried to stay as present as I could, and got some putts to drop at the end. If you would have told me, let alone beginning of this year, but beginning of last year, I wouldn’t believe this is what I’ve done and it’s incredible. It’s just how hard I’ve worked to get here, and it’s amazing.”
Germany’s Henseleit followed up her Olympic silver medalist performance with a second-place finish in Scotland. The two-time LET winner had a steady front nine before making back-to-back birdies on 10 and 11 to close in Coughlin just out of the turn. Henseleit dropped a shot on No. 13 before rolling in another birdie on the No. 14 and finished in outright second place.
“It was fun today,” said Henseleit. “I was playing really solid. I had a little go on the back nine, but Lauren played amazing. 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 at the moment. I feel like the putter got a little bit 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 has been really good. It’s always a bit different coming here. I’ve been chipping around the greens. I’ve been working on it, and especially on my putting the last two years I would say. I’m starting to see some really big improvements, and also take some pressure off my iron game and my short game as well. It’s good to see.”
2022 ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open winner Ayaka Furue made a run at the end and got within three-shots of the leader at one point but ultimately ended with her second-top-10 finish at this event. Megan Khang finished the week in a share of third place after staying in close contention the entire week. Rounding out the top-five is England’s Charley Hull in outright fifth place while defending champion Celine Boutier finished T25.
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