Late-blooming American standout Lauren Coughlin prepares for Solheim Cup debut at age 31

GAINESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Lauren Coughlin has discovered the more she talks about her golf — good or bad — the better she plays.

The newest and perhaps unlikeliest standout in American women's golf, Coughlin is known as much for her candor as her ball-striking. She makes her Solheim Cup debut this week as the oldest player on the U.S. team, a few weeks shy of her 32nd birthday.

“I think it’s why I’ve been able to get better in my career is because I’m willing to talk about it and think about it and reflect,” Coughlin said Wednesday at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, “and not judge myself for not doing it when I needed to. Like, for not hitting a shot or for playing bad or whatever, you know, not getting it done in a certain situation. And I think some people see that as a weakness.

“But think I've used it as a strength to kind of be able to improve.”

Coughlin's improvement has been so dramatic that she began the year just hoping to play in her first Solheim Cup in her home state and enters the team competition against Europe as one of the top American players. At No. 14 in the world, only three teammates are ranked ahead of her, and she's the only player of the two dozen Solheim competitors with multiple LPGA Tour wins this year other than top-ranked Nelly Korda (who has six).

She's doing it at an age when many LPGA stalwarts are ready to walk away. Lexi Thompson, two years younger, says this will be her final full season, and Lydia Ko, a Hall of Famer at age 27, has said she expects to retire by the time she's 30.

“I was a late bloomer coming out of high school, like even in high school, physically and mentally,” Coughlin said. “And it just took me a while to kind of get things figured out. But I eventually did.”

Coughlin played in college at Virginia, married a Cavaliers football player and still lives in the Charlottesville area, about 65 miles south of this week's Solheim venue. She made four scouting trips to RTJ, including the weeks before the Evian Championship (she finished third), the CPKC Women's Open (she won) and the Women's Scottish Open (she won again).

Not bad for a player who began the year having never cracked the top 100 in the world and has never played for a U.S. team, even as a junior or amateur.

U.S. captain Stacy Lewis said she appreciates having two experienced rookies in Coughlin and 30-year-old Sarah Schmelzel who worked so hard to make the team.

“They're playing the best golf of their careers as well, but for it to happen at this point, I think it's just the appreciation level is a lot higher,” Lewis said.

They join a group that has had mostly negative experiences in the Solheim Cup, with only Thompson and Alison Lee having been part of a winning U.S. team. Europe has captured the cup the last three times.

Coughlin knows what shots to play at long, tree-lined RTJ, which has hosted the Presidents Cup three times, and she prepared Wednesday morning by simulating the alternate-shot format in a practice round with veteran Ally Ewing. But she can only imagine how she'll feel when she strikes her opening tee shot surrounded by a grandstand full of fans.

“I’m sure I’m going to be pretty excited come Friday morning, but again, that’s something I’ve been thinking about and trying to mentally prepare myself for all year,” Coughlin said. “All I've ever heard is the nerves that you feel and the adrenaline that you feel on that first tee shot.”

No matter the result, she'll be willing to share her thoughts about every swing with the listeners who've followed her rise through multiple appearances on the “No Laying Up” podcast. The relationship began when Coughlin, at the time a developmental-tour player seeking to increase her profile, sent a direct message on Twitter to a staffer with the golf media company. She and her husband, John Pond, were fans already.

“I knew how big their following was,” Coughlin said. “The die-hard golf fans are NLU fans.”

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