Lauren Coughlin wins 2024 CPKC Women’s Open at Earl Gray

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Lauren Coughlin made the winning putt to win by two strokes at the 2024 CPKC Women’s Open at Earl Grey Golf Club in Calgary.

A little later she finished a bottle of champagne.

“There wasn’t much left in it,” she protested.

Coughlin, who was completely immersed in the foaming party, earned the right to savor every drop.

The 31-year-old from Charlottesville, Virginia, is a first-time winner on the LPGA Tour. This was her 103rd career start. As she picked up the trophy, she listed some of her biggest supporters, describing them as “the people who believed in me from the beginning and kept me going when I wanted to quit.”

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“We’ve really worked hard to make this happen,” said Coughlin, who posted a four-round tab of 13-under 275. “And it’s better than I ever could have imagined.”

When the leaders arrived at number 17, the hockey-themed ‘Rink Hole’ on Sunday, it looked like an overtime game would be needed… er, a play-off…

Coughlin, South Korea’s Haeran Ryu and Japan’s Mao Saigo topped the standings at 12-under.

And then Coughlin buried a six-iron close to a back pin and hit a delicate putt for birdie, while Ryu grimaced as her par shot went wide. With Saigo on the verge of bogey, Coughlin suddenly had a two-stroke lead with just one hole to play.

“At that point, my adrenaline was pumping,” Coughlin said. “My heart was racing pretty good. I was just taking as many deep breaths as I could.

“I just tried to hit the fairway, hit the green, make two putts and get out of there.”

That’s exactly what she did.

Saigo, who set a tournament record with his 61 on Saturday, eventually finished in second place with a score of 11-under 277. Ryu and Jenny Shin, also of South Korea, finished in third place with a score of 10-under 278.

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Coughlin, who led after both the first and second rounds and was just one stroke behind her at the tee on Sunday, has spoken all week about the importance of patience on a 6,856-yard course that hasn’t produced many easy birdies.

She had to take her own advice as she waited for her flat stick to warm up in the final round, and she credited her caddie Terry McNamara, the trusty looper for the legendary Annika Sorenstam, for helping her stay positive.

“He kept saying, ‘They’re going to go in eventually, they’re going to go in eventually,'” Coughlin said. “It finally went in at No. 17.”

CHIP SHOT: Brooke Henderson won the Sandra Post Medal — awarded to the lowest-scoring Canadian at the CPKC Women’s Open — for the seventh time in her career. The superstar from Smiths Falls, Ont., finished tied for eighth at 6-under 282 and plans to represent her country at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, where she’ll be gunning for a medal of a different kind. “I can take a lot of positives from this weekend,” said Henderson, who closed with a 4-under 68. “I feel like my game is really good. It’s been trending for a long time and I feel like I’m getting closer to winning every week” … Hamilton native Alena Sharp, also headed to the Paris Olympics, electrified the crowd when she donned a Calgary Flames jersey at the “Rink Hole.” Sharp was T-14 at 4-under … California’s Andrea Lee completed the front nine in just 28 on Sunday. Wow. When she reached the turn, her scorecard read seven birdies and two pars … The CPKC Has Heart program resulted in a record-breaking donation: $3.8 million to the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation and $500,000 to Red Deer Regional Health. The fans in Calgary also set a tournament record for attendance, surpassing the 2022 total in Ottawa.

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