Coughlin claims Aramco Championship by 5 shots

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) — After coming oh so close to winning at Shadow Creek last year, Lauren Coughlin made sure victory was never truly in doubt Sunday in the Aramco Championship. She rolled to a five-shot win over Nelly Korda and the rest of the star-studded field for her first win in two years. Coughlin shot an even-par 72 for a 7-under total, earning the 33-year-old from Virginia $600,000. She won her third LPGA Tour title and first in the United States, after winning in Canada and Scotland in 2024. "I think it just means more because after 2024 and not winning is hard," Coughlin said. "I didn't get it done earlier in the year last year when I had a couple chances and that really bothered me. I was like, 'What if I don't ever get to do it again? What if that's the best golf I every played in 2024?' Those thoughts were hard not to think last year." Korda was runner-up yet again after shooting a 75 and finishing at 2 under. She made her one birdie on the par-5 18th, avoiding going without one in a round for the first time since the first day of The ANNIKA last November in the Tampa Bay area. This was her third consecutive second-place finish after opening her season by winning in Orlando, Florida, moving Korda up a spot to No. 1 in the world ranking. "I'm just going to stick to what I'm doing," Korda said. "I'm really happy with the way that my game is trending, and sometimes when you work too hard and you exhaust yourself, you can go the other way." Leona Maguire (71) also finished at 2 under, and the only other player with an under-par score was Miyu Yamashita (74) at 1 under. Korda wasn't the only tough competitor for Coughlin to overcome. The $4 million prize money in the event organized by Golf Saudi and co-sanctioned by the LPGA and Ladies European Tour drew 38 of the top 40 players. It's the first such event in the United States, and more appear to be coming to North America. Players compared this tournament to a major because Shadow Creek because birdies were so difficult to come by. Only four players wound up under par for the tournament. Coughlin, the former two-time Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year at Virginia, showed why she feels comfortable at Shadow Creek, even though the format for this year's tournament switched from match to stroke play. She made the final pairing last year before a 1-up loss to Madelene Sagstrom. "It left a sour taste in my mouth," Coughlin said. "Second is a good consolation, but winning is really fun." Her comfort was evident all four days around the 6,765-yard tract that makes players pay dearly for putting the ball in poor locations. Coughlin was in a three-way tie for the lead after the first round and never relinquished that position as others fell off. She came close to turning the tournament into a laugher at times Friday and Saturday, but going into the final round, Coughlin enjoyed just a two-shot margin over Korda, the 2024 LPGA Tour Player of the Year. Korda ended the third round with back-to-back birdies and an apparent message she wasn't going anywhere. But then the final round began, and it became clear fairly quickly which direction the tournament was heading. Coughlin began to pull away and all but ensured at the eighth green she would be the one to place her hands on the trophy. Coughlin rolled in a downhill right-to-left 45-footer for birdie on the par 3. Korda then preceded to three-putt, including missing a 2-footer for par. Suddenly, Coughlin was at 9 under and Korda at 3 under — and the rest of the round all but a formality. Korda got within four shots when Coughlin opened the back nine by bogeying the 10th and 12th holes, but Korda did the same on Nos. 13 and 15 to again make it a six-shot difference. "Not even just bogeys, but you can make a lot of big numbers out there," Coughlin said. "So I was sticking to my game plan and trying to focus on staying in my routine as much as I could and make as many pars as I possibly could." ___ AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf