Lauren Coughlin first met John Pond at a football Christmas party at the University of Virginia, where they were dorm mates. Pond, a former football player, said his roommate at the time took her on one date, and they later bonded over the fact that she had a car. Now they find themselves at the Amundi Evian Championship, where Pond is caddying for Coughlin and she is currently one shot off the lead.
Pond proposed to Coughlin at the 2016 ACC Championship after the Cavaliers won the team title, and Coughlin captured her first individual win. Earlier this year, Pond quit his job in fundraising at Virginia to come travel with Coughlin full-time on the LPGA. After a stint of Pond caddying for her in the spring, Coughlin hired Annika Sorenstam’s longtime caddie, Terry McNamara. “I think I had no expectations this week, given that (John) hasn’t caddied for me in quite a while since Terry has been caddying for me,” said Coughlin. “But I think he’s just my favorite person, so there is just a lot of – it’s just easy to be comfortable with him out there. He’s really starting to get the gist of how to caddie.”
Pond has also looped for former Duke player Gina Kim in recent weeks. Coming into the LPGA’s fourth major of the year, Coughlin made it a point to work on hitting off uneven lies, a requirement at hilly Evian. It paid off, marking the first time she’s made the cut at this event in four appearances. Earlier this season, the 31-year-old tied for third at the Chevron Championship with her husband on the bag.
Currently eighth on the Solheim Cup points list, she’s on the cusp of making Team USA for the first time in a year when the competition won’t be too far from her Virginia home. Coughlin might not be a household name, but she’s got a built-in fanbase with No Laying Up. She’s been part of their Young Hitters program since 2019 and has the NLU logo on her bag.
Coughlin, a rookie in 2018, has yet to win on the LPGA and is currently ranked 56th in the world. She won the 2018 PCH Classic on what was then the Symetra Tour. While her ball-striking has always been strong, it’s an improved short game that has made the difference in recent years. It wasn’t all that long ago that Coughlin was fighting to keep her tour card. Now she’s in the hunt once again to win a major.
