Lauren Coughlin dominates Aramco Championship to capture third career LPGA title

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/coughlin-lauren/GM4DyUPn/"]Coughlin[/a] punctuated her week on the challenging Shadow Creek course in Las Vegas, Nevada, with her third birdie of the day at the 18th.[/p][p][b]Her seven-under par total of 281 put her five clear of world number two [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/korda-nelly/4OpkdK7D/"]Nelly Korda[/a] and Northern Ireland's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/maguire-leona/p62zRKEq/"]Leona Maguire[/a].[/b][/p][p]Korda, who started the day two strokes adrift, closed with a three-over 75, her only birdie of the day coming at the final hole.[/p][p]Maguire, meanwhile, moved up the leaderboard with a one-under 71 to join Korda on two-under.[/p][p]Japan's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/yamashita-miyu/ULhq23PC/"]Miyu Yamashita[/a], who shared the first-round lead with Coughlin, posted a two-over 74 for a one-under total of 287.[/p][p]The leading four were the only players to finish the week under par after days of swirling, gusting winds and high scores.[/p][embed guid="133800c2-89b9-4ae0-ba5c-049b9bc87896" url="https://x.com/LPGA/status/2040968042012971232?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"I just know I played really, really great all week," [/b]said Coughlin, whose two prior titles came at the 2024 Canadian Women's Open and Scottish Women's Open.[/p][p]Ranked 32nd in the world coming into the week, the American is projected to rise to 12th in the rankings after the victory in a star-studded event that featured all of the top 20 ranked players.[/p][p]The tournament, co-sanctioned by the LPGA and the Ladies European Tour, is part of the Saudi-backed Global series and featured a total purse of $4 million (£3m) with a $600,000 (£453,000) winner's prize.[/p][p]More important to Coughlin, it gave her another chance to tackle Shadow Creek, where she finished runner-up in last year's LPGA Match Play.[/p][p][b]"It definitely left a sour taste in my mouth last year, not getting the W given how well I played all week," [/b]she said. [b]"So it makes it extra special this week."[/b][/p][embed guid="3fdfeef2-fc6d-4472-ad20-68aa4a83213d" url="https://x.com/LPGA/status/2041001701100986400?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]After sharing the first-round lead, Coughlin had led by five after the second round before Korda cut the gap on Saturday.[/p][p]But Korda said her game just wasn't sharp enough on Sunday.[/p][p][b]"I just didn't play good golf today," [/b]the American said.[b] "I was hitting it pretty poorly off the tee, and I was just finding myself in really tough positions going into the greens and then hitting it in places where I shouldn't be around the greens.[/b][/p][p][b]"This golf course is brutal, especially if you're on the wrong side of the green."[/b][/p][p]Maguire, whose five birdies included one at the par-five 18th, said she enjoyed the challenge and liked what it showed about her game.[/p][p]"Any time you can shoot three rounds under par at Shadow Creek, you're pretty happy," she said. "I've always said it's one of my favourite venues of the year.[/p][p][b]"I felt like my game had been a lot better lately than some of the scores I shot, and it was nice to see that sort of come to fruition this week on really the hardest course I played all year."[/b][/p]