ARAMCO CHAMPIONSHIP

April 5, 2026

Lauren Coughlin

Shadow Creek

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: All right, here with Lauren Coughlin after her final round, winner of the Aramco Championship. Karen asked you about it in the broadcast, but conquered Shadow Creek. How good does this feel, especially after the runner-up last year?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I think I said in in the interview, it left a sour taste in my mouth. Second is a good consolation, but winning is really fun.

So I am just extremely happy to have gotten it done today.

Q. Patience might have been the best word of the week. Patience on the course. Like you said, didn't get a win in '25. How much were you putting a premium on patience this week?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I think it's everything. It's just inevitable that you're going miss greens hitting certain clubs, so just knowing that like, hey, you're going miss them. Try to miss them in the best possible place and hope you can get up and down; and if not, you're going to make bogey and you can go on to the next hole and hopefully try to hang on there again for the next one.

Q. We got asked about it and we confirmed it, but you played better than most of the field on the back nine. Obviously some of the trickier holes, 17, 15 particularly. What was it about what you were doing on the back that caused you to be so successful?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: I think the front nine is really difficult for me. 2, 3, and 6 are really difficult for me given my length off the tee. Not that I'm short by any means, but it's just really hard to hold those greens given what club I have in.

I think even last year I was almost always like two to 4-down like through six holes because those holes were just a little bit more difficult for me compared to my -- compared to how far Nelly hits it.

She has a little bit less club in. Hitting a little bit higher with more spin than me, so she can be a lot more aggressive than I can. I have to try to hit into the biggest parts of the green and hope I can two-putt from 60 feet. A lot.

So the back nine is not super, super long, and so I can being a lot more aggressive than I can on the front.

Q. After 8 when you went up by six shots, how do you force yourself I guess to focus and not relax at that point? A lot of holes to play still on a tough course.

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I didn't know where I was until I got to 9 green because that was the first time there was any type of scoreboard out there. I only knew what Nelly was doing. I only knew where I was in comparison to her, but I had no idea what everybody else was.

Yeah, I think you can make a lot of bogeys out there and so I was wasn't changing my game plan whatsoever because -- not even just bogeys, but you can make a lot of big numbers out there.

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.

Q. You had mentioned your caddie change, iron shaft change, some other stuff. Does a victory validate all those things?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I was messing with some stuff in my driver and went back to the shaft I've been using for six years last week, and I definitely saw that that was going really good last week. I hit the ball extremely well with my driver last week and I knew I was hitting my irons really good, so I was just trying to figure out my putting was the last little bit I was really working on.

So, yeah, I think as soon as I started making some putts early on Thursday I was like, oh, I was feeling really good. I putted really well here last year, too. I don't know if it's just I just see the greens really well. There are some weeks it's like, man, I just can't get a putt to go in and I don't feel like I'm hitting a bad stroke.

And there are some weeks where it's like, I really, really see them. I think that's part of it. Too.

Q. You made a lot of really gritty up and downs coming down the stretch. What do you do to lock in in that scenario even with a big lead?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, routine is the biggest thing, and that's really my whole goal, especially on the back nine. I knew where I was because I was seeing scoreboards. It's hard not to think about winning and getting ahead of yourself and thinking about the result when you still have five holes to play.

And so I allowed myself to think that and, okay, I gt to get back into it and think about my routine and my process and focus on that as much as I possibly can and then talk about whatever else with my caddie in between shots.

Q. You stuffed the wedge shot on 18. What was the thought process and how did it feel to see that ball land two feet from the hole?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah it's hard to layup when you have 150 yards to the front of the green. I was kind of between clubs. I kind of was like just given where the pin was, just give myself a decent wedge number and like just go make par. That's all I need to do.

So just trying to make it so I had as less stress as possible coming up there. So it's kind of hard to go driver, 58 degree, 58 degree but it worked out.

Q. You won in Scotland, won in Canada; finally got it done in the U.S. Does this one mean more because it's on home soil?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: I think it just means more because after 2024 and not -- winning is hard and 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.

So Grant Thornton, people keep not giving me credit for Grant Thornton. I'm a PGA TOUR winner, you know? (Laughing.)

So winning Grant Thornton was really nice, too, kind of having to make some putts coming down the stretch there and hitting some shots.

Yeah, I think it definitely means more just because you never know if you're going to get the chance again. I was lucky enough to get it done.

Q. It's a nice kick in the pants, $600,000 payday.

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yep.

Q. What are you and John looking to spend that money on. I know there has been a boat in recent years. What are you looking at celebrating?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: We have pretty much everything we need so it's just going in the bank account.

Q. Not putting it on black?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Absolutely not.

Q. This course is known for its difficulty. You came very close last year. Finally getting it done this year, what part of your game just clicked this week to help get over the hump?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: I think it was a little bit of everything. I was driving it pretty solid, hitting my irons really well, hitting my wedges really, really well this week.

And then I made a lot of putts.

So I feel like it was just everything was kind of going this week. I think I showed signs of it the last couple weeks, but just given how much time I had off just don't really know until you get under the gun.

I would say I kind of had everything going this week.

Q. Lauren, I believe you're projected to climb to 12th when the Rolex rankings are updated tomorrow. How satisfying is it to have that sort of the validation from this win?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, huge. Again, it's definitely something that I got -- the highest I think I got last year was eighth going into Chevron and that was a big goal of mine, was being in the top 10 of the world last year and it still is. Seeing it kind of drop as the year went on was not fun.

So, yeah, it's extremely validating. Going toe to toe with Nelly, No. 2 ranged player in the world in the same group, final group on a Sunday is extremely cool and hopefully give me a lot of confidence going into the rest of the year.

Q. How good is that decision to change your iron shaft at the beginning of this year now looking?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah. I mean, it wasn't just that, too. I changed my lie angle, which I think was the biggest thing. I don't know if it's just how the shafts were a little -- just how they delivered was a little bit different. I had been super flat for really, really long time. I kept hitting these shots and they kept going weak right. The only way I could get it -- I as really having to come over top and it was really messing with my swing.

My coach was like, hey, let's try this and see if it helps. I really like the feel of the shafts a lot, so the last bit was getting my lie angles correct. As soon as I did that they just started going exactly where I wanted to and I can actually get my swing where I wanted it to be without -- I wasn't having to fight that right ball.

Basically if they're too flat the toe is going to hit first and it's going to make the face go wide open. So to get it to not go really wide open I was having to subconsciously really come over the top and pull it almost really, which is not what I want to have to do in my golf swing.

I think that was the last a little bit that got me over the hump with them.

Q. Couple weeks out from our first major of the year. How much confidence and how much more hungry does this win make you wanting a major now?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I mean, that's obviously the ultimate goal, is to win a major. So I'm just going to get back to work and hopefully I can keep my game going as long as possible.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Lauren.

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Thanks.