THE AMUNDI EVIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 13, 2024

Lauren Coughlin

Evian Resort Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, here with Lauren Coughlin after her third round at the Evian Championship. Amazing round today to really move up the leaderboard and sitting in a tie for the lead right now. Talk about the day you had out there.

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, like I said earlier, I've just been hitting my irons and driver extremely well, and finally rolling in some putts, too.

Yeah, no, it was a great round. Started off a little shaky hitting it in the right bunker on the first, but other than that, I feel like I settled in quite quickly.

Q. It takes a lot I think to play well out here and play as well as you're playing out here, making eagles and doing what you're doing. What's been the key for you this week that you really locked in on and been able to solve some of the problems Evian provides?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, this is my fifth year playing and I've never made the cut up until this point. Uneven lies has been giving me an issue for a really long time. I think Lancaster really exposed it.

So I finally just been putting in some work and going and practicing and figuring them out, and I think I'm seeing all that work this week.

I think that's the big thing, is just being able to trust you're going to hit the ball where you need to hit it. You have to be so precise. It's helped a lot given how soft the greens have been, but overall it's been just really good execution.

Q. John was on your bag at Chevron. What is it about the husband-wife duo that's working at majors specifically?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: I think I had no expectations this week given that he hasn't caddied for me in quite a while since Terry has been caddieing for me.

But I think he's just my favorite person, so there is just a lot of -- it's just easy to be comfortable with him out there. He's really starting to get the gist of how to caddie. I know we did really well at Chevron, too.

He's been caddieing for another player which I think is really helping him as well. It's easy to talk to me. Being able to say those same things to someone you're not married to, is...

So just fine tuning some things here and there. Yeah, no, he's been great. Obviously it's awesome having him on the bag.

Q. Who is the other player?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Gina Kim.

Q. You are playing in the last group tomorrow. You have an idea at this moment of your strategy?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Just have fun as best I can and try to stay in the moment as best I can as well. Not try to get too thinking about result or the end and winning of course.

I think if I can stay very much here and in the moment, we'll see.

Q. Did you feel from the beginning when you arrived here and when you played the pro-am that you were not far from your A-game?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: You know, I feel like playing the pro-am definitely kind of had a feeling that -- I could see just like, again, the work that I had put in on the uneven lies and how good I was hitting my irons that day I was like, okay, we'll see how it goes. I'm not afraid of Evian anymore.

Q. Some different restaurants down in the city. Where have you and John been hanging out and is there a key to the success in this the food you've been eating?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Pretty been going either Rapido or Evian Kabob; doing to Thai tonight.

Q. What's the Rapido order?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: The burrata pizza.

Q. Details of the two eagles, please, how you made them?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, so -- okay, so 9 I had driver then I had 217 to about 24 feet-ish.

Then driver, 3-wood 22 five-ish, and then to about 18 feet.

Q. Is it your fifth time in Evian?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: I think so, yes.

Q. Never made a cut before this year?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: No, never made a cut before.

Q. So you're not afraid anymore?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: That's right.

Q. John Coughlin? It's the same...

LAUREN COUGHLIN: No, it's P-o-n-d.

Q. John, J-o-h-n?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Correct. Coughlin is my maiden name. I just keep it as that.

Q. I have to ask, Virginia, does the -- knowing Rolling Hills and playing that kind of golf, does that help at all here or is that totally out the window?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: I grew up near Virginia Beach where it's very flat. Charlottesville where I live now currently, yes, there is Rolling Hills. I could do it, but it wasn't -- it's not as precise as you need to be out here.

Q. Last one from me. How delighted are you to be in this spot going into the final round tomorrow? Just having fun obviously is going to be the priority, but how much fun is this to be playing this solid and making eagles and birdies?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, no, it's always fun to make putts really is what it comes down to. I've hit the ball really well for a really long time. Just haven't been able to get the putts to go in the hole.

So it's been really fun seeing them go in. Over and over again.

Q. Not having made a cut here and having some of those rolling fairways situations, was that something you practiced heading into this week in Virginia?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, it definitely was. So Terry McNamara has been caddieing for me the last five weeks, and it was definitely something, he was like, you got to get this going.

So that's what I focused on a lot last week it the UVA facility. Luckily they have a huge short game area where I can hit irons and go to different spots and get different lies, and that's kind of what I was doing, and starting to get comfortable hitting the different shots.

Q. University...

LAUREN COUGHLIN: University of Virginia, yes.

Q. Which place did you grow up?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Chesapeake, Virginia.

Q. Which part of the U.S.?

LAUREN COUGHLIN: Virginia, so kind of like Mid-Atlantic. It's kind of Northeast, but kind of in the middle. Below Maryland, above like North Carolina, South Carolina.