Perhaps it’s time to shine a spotlight on Lauren Coughlin (-12). The American leads the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open thanks to a sensational round of 66 shots that allows her to enter the final round at Dundonald Golf Links with a one-shot lead over Megan Khang (-11) and three ahead of German Esther Henseleit (-9) and English Charley Hull (-9).
Lauren, currently world number 26, has experienced at 31 years old in 2024, the season of her great explosion at the top. Until this year, her greatest success had been a victory at the Epson Tour back in 2017, which earned her the rights to the LPGA, which she had to regain a couple of seasons later.
In these six seasons, the American had only three top 10s in the LPGA in over 80 tournaments and had barely appeared in a dozen Majors. Two top 20s and eight missed cuts in the Grand events. You never know when the golf gods are willing to reward all the work and effort made and, without a doubt, Coughlin’s has been this season.
Lauren achieved the coveted victory at the Canadian Women’s Open just three weeks ago, but the season had already been quite a spectacle with a third place at the Chevron Championship and a fourth place at the Evian Championship. She also has three other top 10s in the American season, the last one just two weeks ago in Portland. A scandalous few months. These results secure the Minneapolis native a spot in the Solheim Cup for the first time in her career. Six months ago, it would have been unthinkable in any of the predictions for the Gainesville event, which takes place in just a month.
This Saturday, Lauren has given a clinic from the tee and has only missed two fairways along the way, a very difficult task at Dundonald Golf Links. Six flawless birdies propel her to the first place of a tournament that would undoubtedly be the greatest victory of her career. After popping the champagne of victory just twenty days ago, Coughlin seems set to continue indulging in a liquor that seems fabulous. Follow her closely as in just a month Ciganda and company will have to deal with the explosive American player. It will be interesting to see how she responds tomorrow with such a demanding field.
As previously mentioned, just one shot behind is her compatriot Megan Khang (-11) in a tournament that has a luxury top 10. Esther Henseleit (-9), Charley Hull (-9), Minjee Lee(-8), Lydia Ko (-7) are in the famous five-shot bracket that aspire to hit the jackpot in the preliminaries of the AIG Women’s Open. Also lurking are Jin Young Ko (-6), Ayaka Furue and Lisa Pettersson (-5)
However, one of the big figures of the day is none other than the Spanish Nuria Iturrioz (-4). The Balearic has handed in the best card of the day in Scotland and has jumped headfirst into the top 10 of the tournament. Along with Coughlin and Henseleit, they have been the only players to scratch six shots off the field. It’s not being the best year for the player trained in Son Servera, who is alternating great rounds with more complicated days. If she manages a good final round, she could give a good boost to the Order of Merit in which she is currently. There are few players who have Nuria’s ability to generate birdie opportunities, today there were six without a mistake, and tomorrow she will look for a similar round that gives her the best result of the season.
Marta Martín (+4) and Ana Peláez (+5) have handed in cards of 74 and 75 shots this Saturday that have made them lose some positions that they will try to recover in the final round.
