As summer slowly draws to a close, the LPGA Tour is in a final stretch with big tournaments, big prizes and great successes week after week.
Last week, the 2024 Olympic Games took place in Paris. Next week, the AIG Women’s Open takes place at the home of golf, the Old Course at St. Andrews. But this week in Scotland, 54 holes of the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open are over and the top of the leaderboard is packed with big names, all looking to add another title to their resume.
At the top of the table is Lauren Coughlin, who is seeking her second LPGA Tour victory in three starts after winning the CPKC Women’s Open in late July, but right behind her is a solid and incredibly accomplished group of players all trying to catch her in Sunday’s finale.
Megan Khang is just one stroke behind after three rounds at 11 under par. Like Coughlin, she is hoping for a place on the US Solheim Cup team.
Khang needed some time to get her Saturday round going, but she finished her third round with a score of 3 under par over her final seven holes. She missed just three greens on moving day and is tied for second in greens in regulation this week.
With half a dozen golfers within five strokes after 54 holes, Khang said the key for her will be to remain patient until Sunday’s finale.
“The putts are going to fall and I just have to give myself the opportunity to hole birdies and, if I have to, get some up-and-downs when I have to,” Khang said. “That’s going to be the deciding factor in this tournament.”
Close on Khang’s heels are German Esther Henseleit and Englishman Charley Hull with 9 strokes under par. They have a lot of catching up to do in the last round, but both are no strangers to low shots.
Henseleit, who won the silver medal at the Olympics last week, shot 66 (6 under par) on Saturday to match Coughlin for the best round of the day. She made five birdies and an eagle, but gave up one with a late bogey on the par-4 16th hole. Henseleit has won the Ladies European Tour twice, but has yet to win on the LPGA Tour in her career.
If she wins, she would be the fourth first-time Rolex winner of the 2024 season.
“I’ll just try to concentrate on my own game,” said Henseleit. “Go one shot at a time and in the end I hope I can get a good result. Then we’ll see where we stand tomorrow at the end of the day.”
A little further back, but certainly still in the race, are Minjee Lee at 8 under par and last week’s gold medalist and the LPGA’s newest Hall of Fame member Lydia Ko at 7 under par.
Lee won twice in 2023, but she hasn’t reached the winner’s circle on the LPGA Tour since October of last year. Although the Australian ranks first in strokes gained tee-to-green and first in strokes gained on approach, according to KPMG Performance Insights, she ranks 142nd in strokes gained putting.
Lee stumbled home on Saturday with three bogeys in her final seven holes, but she said anything can happen in the final round. Her putting has also seen a big turnaround this week at Dundonald Links, and she is tied for seventh in total putts this week. Lee said that will again make the difference in the final round if she wants to end her winless drought.
“I think I’m just going to try to get a good feel with the putter,” Lee said. “I’ll go out and practice a little bit, then get a good night’s sleep and do everything I can to prepare myself as best as I can for tomorrow.”
Sunday will see another great finale at the Women’s Scottish Open, with many big names battling it out for another LPGA Tour title. And while it’s never easy to just go out and win on Tour – take Coughlin, for example, who scored her first win in her 103rd career start – sometimes it can actually be pretty simple to describe what it takes to win.
“Just have fun and enjoy it,” Charley Hull said of her attitude for Sunday’s final. “Go out there, laugh and make birdies.”
