Lauren Coughlin had a career year en route to her first Solheim Cup appearance — and some unconventional coaching help helped her get there.
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GAINESVILLE, Va. Lauren Coughlin‘s meteoric rise in Solheim Cup started with a shooting change.
In March of this year, Coughlin was ranked 107th in the world. She had aspirations of playing her way into the Solheim Cup team by the end of the year, but with zero career wins, the goal seemed unlikely.
Her 2024 campaign got off to a strong — if not spectacular — start. Coughlin made four cuts in five starts, with her best finish a T21 finish while swinging in Asia. Cashing checks is always nice, but to make the Solheim Cup roster, she needed a special season.
When the LPGA schedule returned stateside, Coughlin prepared for the Ford Championship in Arizona. A few days before the tournament, she and her husband visited Ping’s headquarters in Phoenix. While there, she fell in love with a young bat – PLD Oslo.
Armed with her new top-10 finish, Coughlin finished eighth in the Ford Championship – just the third top-10 of her career. Three weeks later, she cashed the biggest check of her career with a T3 at the Chevron Championship. She continued stellar play for the remainder of the summer, winning twice and finishing third in the Solheim Cup standings while qualifying for her first national team.
“It’s been kind of a whirlwind,” Coughlin said. “But in the best way. It’s been super fun and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”
Coughlin’s changeup has been credited with sparking her incredible run this summer. But the 31-year-old made another key change to her set-up at the same time as her move to the club.
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Part of the reason for Coughlin’s struggles came from her habit of turning her head to see the ball spin straight as she hit the ball. To fix the problem, Coughlin’s husband and trainer got together and created a do-it-yourself training aid: safety goggles with duct tape over the left half of the left lens.
“I tend to look really early, especially on short shots,” Coughlin said. “It’s in the core, so I don’t look up and look at the hole when I’m putting.”
The creation of the glasses came in the same week as her change in Arizona – and the results speak for themselves.
According to KPMG’s Performance Insights, Coughlin ranks 37th on the LPGA Tour in SG: Putting, gaining 0.70 strokes per round on the greens. Last season she was ranked 210th in the same category. A year ago, it was 227th.
“At the beginning of the year I was giving myself a 45-, 50-footer that was causing me a lot of anxiety because I thought I was going to three-putt,” she said. “I think (putting) has become a strength of my game this year.”
All thanks to a timely tire change and DIY training aid.
