In Lauren Coughlin’s final tune-up before heading to the Netherlands to represent the U.S. Solheim Cup Team she is giving U.S. Captain Angela Stanford plenty to be confident about. Coughlin got off to a blistering start to her third round at the FM Championship at TPC Boston where she carded three straight birdies to begin the day en route to posting a two-under par round of 70.

“It really firmed up, the greens especially there towards the end of the round, which is kind of how I was expecting it to play,” Coughlin said about the course, which received quite a bit of rain in the week prior to the start of the tournament. “Coming into this week it was pretty soft to start the week, but and really started showing its teeth I feel like out there.”

The teeth of TPC Boston came out to bite Coughlin at the par four, fifth hole which put an end to her run of birdies early in the day. She followed with a string of pars before rolling in a 12-footer for birdie at the par five, 12th hole to return to eight-under par. But Coughlin ran into trouble again at the par four, 15th where she suffered her first double-bogey of the week. But Coughlin bounced-back with a birdie at the par three, 16th and closed with back-to-back pars for a round of 70 to remain in the hunt heading into the final round at TPC Boston.

“It was a pretty really good day outside of like two holes,” Coughlin said about her round. “Other than that, played really good.”

Coughlin’s solid performance through 54-holes will no-doubt be a comfort to U.S. Solheim Cup captain Angela Stanford after she watched five of her team members miss the cut this week at the FM Championship. The team was finalized on Sunday following the CPKC Women’s Open and captain’s picks were announced on Monday followed by a team dinner outside Boston.

For Coughlin, this week’s FM Championship has given her an opportunity to gauge the strengths and weaknesses within her game, to get it into peak form ahead of her second Solheim Cup appearance. It will be the first time that she represents the U.S. on foreign soil after playing in her first Solheim Cup in 2024 in her native Virginia.

“It will be my first away one, so I kind of feel like I got a little bit of things that I've asked some questions about just with people who have been over there,” Coughlin said about preparing to compete in a Solheim Cup abroad. “Overall, just really looking forward to being around everybody and having a lot of fun.”

Coughlin sees similarities between her personality and Stanford’s, which she says is different than what she saw in past captain Stacy Lewis. Coughlin says she shares a toughness and grittiness with Stanford and that she’s been a different leader than Lewis, but “good in her own way.”

Leading into this year’s Solheim Cup has been such a different experience for Coughlin who had essentially locked up her position on the team following her win earlier this season at the Aramco Championship. It made the season much easier knowing she didn’t have to fight to try and make the U.S. team, instead she was focused on fine-tuning her game and getting to know the golf course at Bernardus Golf, which she had a chance to play ahead of this year’s match.

“Just kind of see where everything is, and on the off week try to fix anything that I might need to work on,” Coughlin said about her final preparations for the Solheim Cup. “I've gone and seen the course so I know what I need to focus on, so make sure I'm driving it well is probably going to be the biggest thing and short game around the greens. Other than that, yeah, just kind of try to rest up and be ready for a long week.”

Rest would go a long way in making Coughlin ready for the Solheim Cup. A win on Sunday at the FM Championship? That would go an awfully long way in boosting her Captain’s confidence.

Coughlin tunes-up and tweaks for Solheim Cup, contends at TPC Boston

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