THE MODERATOR: I'm here with Lauren, leader in the clubhouse after the first round Of the Chevron Championship. Just talk about how your game felt out there, bogey-free round to start this championship.
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I think my husband and I, he just had a really good game plan and just wasn't trying to be too aggressive out there. Just trying to take a 30-footer or I might have a chip here or there, just knowing that that's the appropriate place to be. Just not trying to be too aggressive in certain spots and taking what -- certainly there's some holes, good pins and stuff that you can go at stuff, but overall I was just trying to take what it would give me and not trying to force anything.
Q. You had two changes at Ford Championship if I can remember, your husband on the bag and the putter. How do you think those changes have propelled you a little bit?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, there's no one who knows me better than him, so just kind of keeping me cool and relaxed out there and calm and not getting too far ahead of myself at times or too down on something that happened before.
Yeah, I changed putters. That Monday morning he was getting fit at Ping for a set of clubs for him, and I was just puttering around and picked up this putter, and it felt pretty good from the get-go and then my coach was there watching me putt around with it, and he was like, hmm, that looks pretty good, and Tony, the lead designer of putting putters at Ping was there, and he was like, wow, that looks really good, too, so I just kind of took it, and I've been putting with it ever since.
Q. Your parents live about 15 minutes away you said. How nice is it to have that sense of comfort, especially during a big week like this?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, it's awesome to be able to sleep in my own bed. My dad cooked me breakfast this morning really early. Tuesday night we had a bunch of my friends over for dinner, so it's been a lot of fun, and relaxing for sure, not having to be in host housing or hotel, have a real true home feel to it.
Q. How old were you when you got your first hole-in-one?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: When I got my first hole-in-one, I was 19 years old. It was at the Sally in Daytona Beach during a practice round. Pitching wedge.
Q. Have you ever had a hole-in-one at a major tournament?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: No, unfortunately not. That's my only one. And it was in a practice round.
Q. How long has your family been in this area? How far away from the golf course are they?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: They've been here for 12 years. They moved me into my dorm my freshman year of college at UVA and the next day moved here.
Q. Why?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: My dad worked for a company called FloServe, and he just got transferred down here.
Q. Did you spend some time on this golf course at all in advance?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Last year I played before Hawai'i, but that was my first time. When I'm in town, usually I practice at the Woodlands Country Club, the tournament course, where they have the Champions Tour event.
Q. Can you take us back to the conversation of having your husband caddie for you, and are there any rules that you have?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, so I had split with my longtime caddie right after China. There was a week in between, and I didn't really want to rush into just hiring anybody, and he had just quit his job to come out with me full time. So I was like, okay, I will have you caddie for me Palos Verdes and then just see who I can get, who might be available, everything like that, just take my time and not rush.
Then it just like -- he's been begging me to give him an opportunity, a real opportunity, because he's caddied for me off and on over the years. But I was like, okay, I'll give you these three weeks. I'll know after three weeks if we can do it. When I say we, I mean me. Because I know he can do all of the things that I need him to do. It's more just -- we've never spent that much time together, so it's just like can I do that, can I have the boundaries that we need to have to where we're not just constantly about me golf all the time, which of course I enjoy that he cares that much, but it's just like I don't always love it always being about me and my golf game specifically.
Q. Quitting his job to come out here full time, was that just because you were spending too much time apart? Was that a quality-of-life decision?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Partly that, yeah. He had kind of also been helping me just like in a managerial role I would say, helping with my travel, book our travel. But also just spend more time to get to travel the world and do a lot of really cool things that we might not get to do forever, and to do it while we still can. I was fortunate enough position to where we could do it, and it wouldn't put too much strain on us financially or anything like that. I'm doing well enough to where I can do that. So I was like, yeah. He was always like, worst case if after a year we don't like it, I can go back and get a job again.
Q. You've had such a consistent last couple years after I know some of the early struggles in your career. How much fun has it been to have that consistency and now be in a position where you can contend for majors?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, it was a rough start for sure. It was really hard to keep going in the beginning. But it's been really fun. I just keep trying to get better every year is my goal, improve on things, a little here or there, and keep things I do well well but also fix some of the things or improve on some of the things that I can, and that's been what I've been focusing on, and it's been awesome.
Q. Has there been a mental shift that's allowed you to play this kind of golf?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I think as well, it's kind of the game plan today is just not trying to force things, which I have a tendency to do, because I do hit the ball really, really good, and I can control my golf ball really well, but sometimes I can get too focused on is my swing looking perfect, is my -- just wanting to hit it to three feet every time, where it's like, no, hitting it to 25, 30 feet is a really good shot.
Q. What differences have you seen in your game with your husband on the bag these last couple weeks?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: He's really good at talking through everything when I want to get really fast and make a decision really quickly. He is really good at putting all the work in, all the extra work, all the extra walking, all the extra making sure the strategy is really good and double checking everything. But he's really just -- he's always been really good with how he talks to me and communicates what he thinks I need to do and how I need to do it.
Q. Was there a moment in today's round where he talked you back?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, a little bit. We were first group off, so we kind of were rolling there for a while, and we caught up with the group -- the last group from the front nine on hole 6, and we had been not rushed at all but not fast, just like at our own pace all day, and then we just hit a standstill, and I don't necessarily love it when I can't -- I feel like I got a little bit out of rhythm there. But he was like, hey, it's fine, we're in no rush, you don't need to try to go too fast or anything like that.
Q. I know you mentioned he caddied for you on and off throughout your career. When was the last time that he looped for you?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: U.S. Open qualifier last year.
Q. As you came into the LPGA this week, who do you see as your main competition?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: I mean, Nelly, of course. She's everybody's competition.
Q. On handling the pressure, how are you preparing yourself on handling the pressure for the tournament?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, it's only one round, so I think not trying to get ahead of myself at all, just trying to stay in the moment, enjoy it, enjoy that I put myself in this position and go enjoy being at home the rest of the day.
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