ISPS HANDA WOMEN'S SCOTTISH OPEN

July 22, 2025

Lauren Coughlin

Dundonald Links

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Here with defending champion, Lauren Coughlin.

Welcome back to Dundonald Links. How does it feel to be back here?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: It's really cool to be back here. First time defending. So yeah, it's exciting, a lot of memories here for sure. Really good ones. But yeah, very happy to be back in Scotland.

THE MODERATOR: As you maybe came on to the property, walked a few holes, whatever it may be, what are the emotions that came back from last year?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, just some of the shots, especially kind of on the back nine on Sunday. Yeah, overall just very happy to be back. Excited to be back and ready to get going for the week.

THE MODERATOR: This will be one of two you'll be defending this year, but how does maybe coming into this week, does it change anything or is it steady as it goes?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I feel like I was thinking about it a little bit coming into this week, just being like the first time doing it. New feels and all that kind of stuff.

But I feel like I'm trying to just do a really good job of just get ready for this week and really focusing on this week and doing what I need to do to play well again this year.

THE MODERATOR: This week, our first introduction to links golf this year. How do you tackle this week in terms of your shot selection and the elements?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: It's nice to come over and get used to the wind and how much the ball kind of can move in it and stuff.

Just getting a feel for, I guess, like you said, just thinking in a little bit different ways, trying to get the ball on the ground a lot quicker and things like that that you don't really think about when you're over in the States. It's nice to get used to all that leading into the British.

THE MODERATOR: Did you do anything leading up to this week to prepare for that, or is it just once you get on site, it's try and navigate the conditions and course as much as possible?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I have, like, another set of irons that have some bounce taken off for, like, really, really firm turf. It's a little soft out there right now. They have been getting a bunch of rain the last few days.

So not sure if I'll be putting them in play or not. But yeah, overall, just thinking about like that, and last week, went to Sweden, stayed with Maja Stark at her parents' house, first time in Sweden. Had a lot of fun. Played a couple rounds of golf in Sweden, and got to experience sailing and her kind of small Village that she lives in so it was very cool.

Q. What a different journey you've had from, say, Lottie, you've developed and built year-on-year, but when you see someone doing that, do you think, gosh, they are going to miss out on all the foundations I've built up? What do you think?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: I think it's just a little bit different. Like I've had to kind of fight and claw to get here. And so not to say that Lottie has not had to fight and claw but in just kind of a little bit different kind of -- she's fighting and clawing to win, whereas I was fighting and clawing to get status and keep status and things like that.

I think it's helped me, I would say, just to be very resilient and mentally tough, and kind of nice to kind of have that; knowing if things don't go my way I can hang in there and have a little bit more resilience maybe or a little bit of advantage in that sense.

I've not been in Lottie's shoes. So I don't know what it might feel like. She makes it look so easy sometimes at a young age. So I'm kind of a little jealous.

Q. After your win last year, you made your debut in the summer. How has your year changed and been different since last year, and now you're No. 14 in the world.

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I'm at lot more busy than I thought I was going to be off-course. I've kind of started to say no to some things, and more just to kind of get some mental rest and stuff and enjoy being home when I'm home and not have to do a bunch of things, even when they are fun and stuff. Could take energy away from what I'm really trying to do, which is play really good golf as best as I can.

Q. How are you looking towards next week, the last major of the year?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I've never been to Wales. The weather, who knows what it could be like given when the senior men played there a couple years ago.

So hopefully this will be a good just refresher on how much the ball can -- like I said, the ball moves differently in the wind here. It's so cold, and it can just do a lot of really crazy things.

So just getting used to how much the ball can move with the wind and what kind of shots you have to hit to do that. It's just a nice -- yeah, I'm excited to get another -- it will be my fourth British.

Yeah, looking forward to this week, though, too.

Q. What do you love about playing in the wind?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: You just have to really -- one, you have to be in really good control of your golf ball but you also then have to judge it really well, too, so there's like a feel that you kind of have to have, and that's kind of what this week is so good at is you can start getting that feel for it.

And there's different shots: Do you want to fight the wind; do you want to let it do what it's wanting to do; or do you want to keep it low into it; or do I need to get it up high for the wind to take it. There's like a lot of different things that you can kind of do with the golf ball that you don't really have to think too much about normally week-in and week-out.

Q. The course, does everything look the same as last year? Is there any change?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: No. It's playing a little bit softer, especially in the fairways right now. So I'd say that's a bit different. I think they have got a decent amount of rain, heavy rain at times in the last few days. I got in Saturday night and it just like poured.

So I would say that would be the only difference. The greens are relatively soft and fairways are not as firm as they were last year.

Q. And you were saying it's quite nice to be cold after being so warm for so many weeks?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I feel like until Dallas at KPMG we had not really had any super warm weeks. I didn't play México or Utah, which were, I think, the only hot weeks. So that was like, wow, I haven't played in hot in like a really long time. The ball goes so much further. I feel like it's been really, really great temps.

Yesterday I was in pants and I was dying, and now it's just been really good weather and so I'm looking forward to the week.

Q. Are you staying on site?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: I'm in one of the lodges.

Q. How are you finding the lodges?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: They are great. May I can't stark and I have a two-bedroom, me and my husband and then Maja. It's really great, living room and kitchen, really easy. Real easy commute to the golf course in the morning.

Q. When you look back on this stretch of golf last year, what stands out as the difference in what you were feeling in your game and maybe you're trying to recapture?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I think a lot of last year I was having so much fun playing golf and so much fun out on the golf course, and I think that led to a lot of my really, really good play. And so yeah, I've had a kind of rough stretch the last like month or so.

I feel like Evian, I was playing a lot better starting at Evian, and I just couldn't get the ball to go in the hole. But other than that, yeah, I feel like I'm just trying to get back to that, being a lot more relaxed and not trying so hard and want to do so well that sometimes you can tighten up.

So try to get back to that relaxed, fun feels out on the golf course.

Q. And then last one, different tour, different circumstances, but do you take any inspiration from what Scottie Scheffler is doing or saying?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I think his perspective is very unique, and I feel like something that we should aspire to. You know, just the whole gratitude and his worth isn't defined by him as a golfer. It's defined by him as a husband and a father, and it's definitely, like, very aspirational to be like, yeah, I want to be a good wife and hopefully a good friend and hopefully a good mom some day, and to not be so into, like, your identity as a golfer. That's really hard, and it's definitely something I struggle with at times.

It's something that we care so much about and we want to do so well. But hearing him say some of those things, you can kind of learn some things from him.