Lauren Coughlin said she didn’t allow herself to think about victory in Las Vegas until she hit a wedge shot into the 18th green at Shadow Creek. That may have very well been the case, but everyone else knew she had won the Aramco Championship much sooner than that.
“I was like alright, I think I got it now,” Coughlin said.
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The 33-year-old from Virginia led by as many as six shots Sunday and ultimately, by making birdie on the par-5 home hole, topped Leona Maquire and Nelly Korda by five shots. Coughlin shot 67-69-73-72 for a seven-under 281 total to collect her third LPGA title, but first in the United States. Wins in Scotland and Canada marked her first two triumphs in 2024. Korda’s runner-up was her third straight.
Coughlin felt like she had some unfinished business at venerable Shadow Creek. Although this year’s stroke play event is new with a new sponsor, the LPGA played here last year in a match play championship. Coughlin lost on the last hole to Madelene Sagstrom in 2025 in the championship match.
“It left a sour taste in my mouth last year not getting the W given how well I feel like I played all week,” she said. “That makes it extra special this week.”
She started the week ranked 32nd in the world, but the victory worth $600,000 will move her 12th and establish her as the second-best American behind Korda.
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Speaking of the second-ranked player in the world, Korda accomplished something that is impressive, although no doubt frustrating. After a season-opening victory in Florida, she has now collected three consecutive second-place finishes, something that hasn’t been done since Lorena Ochoa did so in 2006.
Korda finished one shot behind Hyo Joo Kim two weeks ago at the Founders Cup. Last week Kim won the Ford Championship for her second straight victory and Korda finished two behind. This week in Vegas, Korda tied Ireland’s Maguire in the second position, but both were well behind Coughlin.
“I just didn’t play good golf today,” Korda said. “I was hitting it pretty poorly off the tee and finding myself in tough positions hitting into the greens.”
In fact, her only birdie on Sunday came on the last hole to creep into that second-place tie.
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The LPGA now takes a week off as not to go up against the Masters, before heading back to California for an event. The following week is the tour’s first major, the Chevron Championship in Houston.
“I’m just going to stick to what I’m doing,” Korda said. “I’m really happy with the way my game is trending. Sometime when you work too hard and you exhaust yourself you can go the other way. Just going to continue doing what I’m doing and hopefully that leads me to a victory.”
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