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the PGA Latin America Tour . She ended up winning her flight and then winning a three-hole shootout against the other flight winners .
“ It was a blast ,” she said . “ It wasn ’ t a real tournament , per se . [ But ] seeing the ball go in the hole a lot and knowing that what I was doing was working definitely helped a lot .”
GAINING STEAM Coughlin hadn ’ t played a tournament in three weeks prior to the No Laying Up event . She wanted to do something other than smack balls on the practice tee at home and stress about the Monday qualifier .
“ There was no pressure at that tournament — certainly not like my last nine holes at the Pelican Championship — but it got the competitive juices going ,” she said . “ It got me back into thinking my way around a golf course . I still had to keep score and I still wanted to win .”
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“ I ’ m looking forward to playing a full season in 2022 and seeing what I can do .” — Lauren Coughlin
It also gave her a chance to test out something she had been working on with coaches John and Kim Lewellen . Coughlin had long struggled with missed threeand eight-foot putts during competition , so she switched to left-hand-low for putts measuring inside 20 feet for her last two LPGA tournaments .
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Coughlin ’ s ball striking has been a strength since she broke into the professional ranks .
“ At the Pelican Championship , I didn ’ t miss any of the short putts that I sometimes miss ,” said Coughlin , who , as an amateur , won the VSGA Women ’ s Amateur Championship twice and the VSGA Women ’ s Stroke Play Championship once .
And during those last weeks of the season when Coughlin knew her LPGA Tour card was teetering on the line , this time , she handled the pressure .
“ I ’ m looking forward to playing a full season in 2022 and seeing what I can do ,” she said .
And with a new mindset for the LPGA ’ s 2022 season , this time , Coughlin knows she has everything to gain .
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