It took a playoff to decide which athlete would advance out of group 13 on Friday at the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards, but it was ultimately two-time LPGA Tour winner Lauren Coughlin who edged out Lucy Li to earn a berth in the round of 16.

Coughlin started the week strong by defeating Li in her first match of the tournament, what was a gritty battle that saw the 32-year-old trail the Epson Tour graduate for seven of 18 holes. Coughlin flipped the match in the final minutes with a birdie on the iconic par-3 17th hole at Shadow Creek and then hung on with a par on 18 to beat Li 1 up and earn her first point of the week on Wednesday.

Thursday saw Mi Hyang Lee hand Coughlin a 1-up loss in another brawl that came down to the final hole. Coughlin led 1 up after the first five holes of the match, but Lee tied things up with a par on No. 6 and then took the lead on the par-5 7th hole. The American squared the match once again on the ninth hole and then won the par-4 11th hole to hold a 1-up advantage over Lee with seven holes remaining.

Lee took the 12th hole to tie the match and went 1 up on Coughlin after parring hole 14, extending her lead to two when she won the par-4 15th hole. Coughlin then claimed the 16th and 17 holes to tie the match with one hole to play, but Lee won 18 with a par to outlast the 2024 U.S. Solheim Cup Team member 1 up.

Friday saw Coughlin again need all 18 holes to defeat her day-three opponent, Republic of Korea native Ina Yoon. Coughlin won the third hole to go 1 up on the 2025 LPGA Tour rookie early, but Yoon squared and then flipped the match after winning the fourth and fifth holes at Shadow Creek to go 1 up. Coughlin beat Yoon on the par-4 6th hole to tie the match, and Yoon responded by landing two blows on the seventh and eighth holes to hold a 2-up lead with 11 holes to go.

Coughlin got back to 1 down by winning 11 and then tied the match on the par-4 12th hole. The LPGA Tour veteran won 13 with a par to go 1 up on Yoon, but the rookie fought back by winning the 14th hole to tie the match. Coughlin won 15 to once again lead 1 up, and Yoon answered on 17 to square things up with just one hole remaining to try and fend off the American.

But it was ultimately a Yoon bogey on the final hole in Sin City that gave Coughlin a 1-up match victory and a second group-play point, putting her in the conversation to advance to Saturday play. Coughlin would only earn that weekend berth, though, if she could take down Li for a second time this week, this time in extra holes, as both players finished day three with two points each, having gone 2-1-0 over the first three rounds in Las Vegas.

Needing a playoff to decide which player would continue on to the single-elimination match-play portion of the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards, the pair returned to the first hole at Shadow Creek for a nervy showdown. But Li didn’t put up too much of a fight, and Coughlin ultimately won the match on the first playoff hole, a victory that propelled her to a spot in the round-of-16 matches that are set to take place on Saturday morning.

“All three of my matches have been really close, kind of back and forth,” Coughlin said after the playoff. “I don't think I've ever been more than 1 up all week. I've been down two at times but fought back in every one. Took it to 18 every day. I started rolling it really well (Thursday). Made a ton of putts today that kept me in it.

“Ina was playing really good. I think she was 3-under through nine, and I was 2 down. Other than that, I just hung in there, and eventually – the golf course is very hard and it's very easy to make some mistakes out there, and I just hung in there and was able to outlast.”

This is Coughlin’s third time teeing it up in the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards, and it’s the first time that she has ever made it to the weekend in Las Vegas. But don’t let that fool you. The Virginia native knows how to have success in match-play formats, something she more than proved in her Solheim Cup debut last year at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, as she went 3-0-1 in the biennial team competition in her home state.

Despite the volumes that kind of performance speaks about her ability in head-to-head matchups, Coughlin doesn’t feel like she’s much of a match-play assassin. Instead, she thinks it’s her grit and tenacity that make her a strong performer in this type of format, and it’s that resilience that has seemingly seen her through to the round of 16 in Sin City.

“I think it's just what I always do. It's what I've always done throughout my whole career,” said Coughlin about her perseverance throughout the week at Shadow Creek. “I always stay in it and fight until I can't anymore. I just stayed in it every single day. I didn't get it done yesterday, but I was able to get it done today.

“I think it's probably what I'm best at. I'm very mentally tough, and I fight. I always have.”

That mental fortitude will certainly come in handy for Coughlin with a morning and hopefully an afternoon session of matches on tap on day four in Las Vegas. And no matter who she winds up facing in the Sweet 16, rest assured that despite playing a ton of golf so far this week, Coughlin is more than ready for any battle that might ensue as she works to track down her third career LPGA Tour title at the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards.

Lauren Coughlin Continuing On to Round of 16 at T-Mobile Match Play

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