The China Mail - Coughlin captures third LPGA title at Aramco Championship

Coughlin punctuated her week on the challenging Shadow Creek course in Las Vegas, Nevada, with her third birdie of the day at the 18th.

Her seven-under par total of 281 put her five clear of world number two Nelly Korda and Northern Ireland's Leona Maguire.

Korda, who started the day two strokes adrift, closed with a three-over 75, her only birdie of the day coming at the final hole.

Maguire, meanwhile, moved up the leaderboard with a one-under 71 to join Korda on two-under.

Japan's Miyu Yamashita, who shared the first-round lead with Coughlin, posted a two-over 74 for a one-under total of 287.

The leading four were the only players to finish the week under par after a days of swirling, gusting winds and high scores.

"I just know I played really, really great all week," said Coughlin, whose two prior titles came at the 2024 Canadian Women's Open and Scottish Women's Open.

Ranked 32nd in the world coming into the week, the American is projected to rise to 12th in the rankings after the victory in a star-studded event that featured all of the top 20 ranked players.

The tournament co-sanctioned by the LPGA and the Ladies European Tour is part of the Saudi-backed Global series and featured a total purse of $4 million with a $600,000 winner's prize.

More important to Coughlin, it gave her another chance to tackle Shadow Creek, where she finished runner-up in last year's LPGA Match Play.

"It definitely left a sour taste in my mouth last year, not getting the W given how well I played all week," she said. "So it makes it extra special this week."

After sharing the first-round lead Coughlin had led by five after the second round before Korda cut the gap on Saturday.

But Korda said her game just wasn't sharp enough on Sunday.

"I just didn't play good golf today," the American said. "I was hitting it pretty poorly off the tee, and I was just finding myself in really tough positions going into the greens and then hitting it in places where I shouldn't be around the greens.

"This golf course is brutal, especially if you're on the wrong side of the green."

Maguire, whose five birdies included one at the par-five 18th, said she enjoyed the challenge, and liked what it showed about her game.

"Any time you can shoot three rounds under par at Shadow Creek you're pretty happy," she said. "I've always said it's one of my favorite venues of the year.

"I felt like my game had been a lot better lately than some of the scores I shot, and it was nice to see that sort of come to fruition this week on really the hardest course I played all year."

Y.Parker--ThChM