The unlikeliest Solheim Cup competitor is also a local favorite

GAINESVILLE, Va. — Lauren Coughlin has never played on a national team before. Not in junior golf. Not in amateur golf. And not in her eight-year career as a pro.

That changes this week.

When Coughlin steps on the first tee Friday morning at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, she’ll be making her Solheim Cup debut — and she’ll be doing so in her home state.

“[It’s] just an hour and 10 minutes from my house,” Coughlin said. “You go to that light and turn left and go about 65 miles, and there’s my house. So that’s pretty awesome.”

Coughlin was born in Minneapolis but grew up in Chesapeake, Va., about 200 miles south of this week’s Solheim Cup outside Washington D.C. She starred on the University of Virginia golf team from 2011 to 2016, winning the ACC individual title in her final year of eligibility and becoming an All-American in the process. Now, nearly a decade later, she’s back competing in her home state wearing the red, white and blue.

Being the local favorite comes with its perks, but it also makes for a busy schedule. There are friends and family to greet, fans to sign autographs for and media to speak with. These weeks are always busy, and Coughlin’s local celebrity only adds to that.

“I thought I was pretty prepared for it, but I wasn’t,” Coughlin said. “It’s been awesome, and I’m just excited to get Friday going.”

Even 12 months ago, the thought of Coughlin playing on the Solheim Cup team in her home state was almost inconceivable. When the Americans and Euros battled it out last September at Finca Cortesin, Coughlin was ranked 119th in the world. Her lone win as a professional to that point was on the Symetra Tour in 2018. If you were compiling a list of favorites to make this year’s roster, Coughlin’s name certainly wasn’t near the top.

But despite those long odds, there Coughlin was Wednesday morning at RTJ Golf Club, playing a practice round with Allisen Corpuz and Ally Ewing along the shore of Lake Manasas. Her caddie, Terry McNamara, joined her, as did her husband, John Pond. Among those in the gallery was her best friend.

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“A lot of my friends just bought tickets; didn’t even ask me,” Coughlin said. “I’ve had a lot of people reach out saying that they were going to be here in one form or another.”

After the year Coughlin has put together, the hype is understandable. In April, she earned her first major top 10 with a third-place finish at the Chevron Championship. Later in the summer she nabbed her first LPGA win at the Canadian Open, which came just a week after her second major top 10 with a fourth-place at the Evian. She continued the hot streak a few weeks later when she won again, this time running away from the field at the Scottish Open.

“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.”

Not only did her play merit Solheim Cup consideration, it clinched her a spot on the team outright. She finished third in the standings behind major winners Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu. Coughlin may enter this week as a rookie, but if the Americans hope to end their winless drought, Coughlin will be a key piece of the puzzle.

But first, she’ll have to conquer her first-tee nerves. Jitters before an opening tee shot are always present — even for the pros — but at a team event like this, those feelings reach a fever pitch. Add in the butterflies of being the local favorite and it’s sure to make for one of the most memorable tee shots of her life.

“It’s something that I’ve been thinking about and preparing for,” Coughlin said. “All I can do is control myself and my process, and that’s all I’m going to focus on.”

After years of preparing, Coughlin’s wait to represent her country is almost over. Friday can’t come soon enough.