Q. All right, here with Lauren Coughlin, leader in the clubhouse. Just talk about the round you had out there today. Watching some of those holes, a lot of tough wind to deal with, especially down the stretch. How did you handle it all?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I think I handled it really well overall. There are some -- it was just really difficult to judge how far the ball was going to go with the wind and the crosswind and how firm the greens got.
And they had some tough pins, especially considering the direction of the wind.
But, yeah, I think I handled it really, really well overall. I think I really only had one bad swing on 11 tee. Other than that, I feel like I hit everything really, really solid all day. I putted extremely will with. My speed control was on pretty much all day.
Yeah, it was a super solid round. I think Terry told me it was probably a better round than you think you realize because I had just -- I don't know, I felt like I could've got a couple more.
Again, I hung in there and got a good round out of it.
Q. Watching some of your last few holes, some missed putts there, but still smiling through it. How much has Terry been such a huge part of embracing some of those missed shots and maybe and moving on?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, he's super positive and he has many, many, many, many years of experience. So when he says thing I tend to want to listen.
Yeah, I think overall, he just has such a good knowledge of what is good, and so he always tells me when I do something good, even if it doesn't necessarily mean it went in.
So I think it just always keeps me up and keeps me from getting too down, which I can be hard on myself, a little bit of a perfectionist out there at times. So just keeping me level.
Q. How nice was it to have three birdies in the first five holes to keep your name on top of the leaderboard?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I mean, the front nine is kind of where you got to take advantage and you just try to hold on there on the back nine, especially with how windy it got.
Yeah, it felt good to get the birdies in to start. Took advantage of the par-5s there. And, yeah, I mean, I had a couple really good two putts on the front side, too -- again, the crosswinds were so difficult and they had a lot of back right pins and the wind is coming hard off the right. It's just so hard to aim far enough right to get it to stay on the right level.
But, yeah, the front nine you have to take advantage. If not, the back nine can really get you.
Q. Before your round did you check out how the early golfers did? Did you look at the leaderboard?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: I mean, I did a little bit because my husband was caddieing for a girl who was playing in the morning wave, so I was kind of keeping track of what she was doing.
I saw a little bit of what was going. It wasn't nearly I don't think as windy as it was when we first started as it was as kind of the day went on.
But, I was looking a little bit, but not too much.
Q. Hannah Green keeps saying this feels like a major championship with the length of the rough in particular. Curious, do you agree that assessment?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: I mean, yeah, the rough is extremely difficult and you can get some really not-good lies. Luckily, you can actually run some stuff up. You can kind of play for it to release. You might not be able to go it the pin, but you can definitely get it on the green.
But, yeah, just with how form it's getting already, it's very, very difficult. You can see, I mean, the scores are pretty high and pretty up there, which is like a major for sure.
Q. As part of that, you've had a couple really impressive results in majors lately. On a course that's going to test that grit or whatever word you want to use, do you feel like you can use that experience, recent experience to your advantage?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I think grit is something, and just being mentally tougher than a lot of people is just something that I've learned over the years just because I've had to work really hard and persevere a lot throughout my career.
I think that's why I can hang in there and I don't get too down on myself. Always keep fighting. Yeah, when it gets hard, that's fine to me. I'm going to keep fighting the whole time.
Q. What's it like to play in the final group? Certainly looks like that will stand on a weekend.
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, it's always fun. Means you're playing really good golf. You get to sleep in, which is nice, too.
Yeah, I'm excited. Still two more rounds to go. Just trying to stay in the moment as much as I can and stay in each shot as best I can and not try to get too ahead of myself.
I feel like I did a little bit today. I felt like I'm playing so good I kept getting so excited and wanting to go and we were waiting so much. Just staying super patient is going to be the big key.
Q. Just wondering if you've a 36-hole lead before on the LPGA Tour?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: I don't think so. I don't know. I've had an 18-hole lead. I know that. I don't know if I've had 36.
Q. Obviously having a 36-hole lead is much different because you'll have most of the morning and early afternoon before you get going. How do you sort of, as you said, not get too anxious and antsy about your tee time tomorrow?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I am going to go to a couple coffee shops that I found.
Q. Caffeine usually helps.
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, no, for sure. (Laughing.) No, I enjoy it. I get to go sit in the coffee shop and have a nice cup of coffee that is hard to find in some places, and I've had a couple really good ones this week and so I am excited to go do that.
Q. You want to shout out the coffee shops?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Monogram, which has been really good, and Sought and Found was really good as well.
Q. What's the order?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Probably Monogram and then...
Q. What do you get when you go?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: I get the condensed milk latte from Monogram, and cortado from Sought and Found.
Q. Might be the secret, folks. Speak a little bit about how much you feel like you've grown being in some of these positions this past year. You've had an awesome year so far. Just the growth you experienced up to this point.
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I think just my confidence kind of the whole year has just gone up and up and up. I that's a big reason why. Just making putts when I need to make putts. Just learning to -- I mean, sounds really easy, but be myself and not try to be too serious and try too hard because I want it so much that it makes you get tight and it -- things don't go your way.
That's been the biggest thing. People have been telling me and it's finally starting to sink in that, no, you are good enough just doing whatever you do naturally. You don't needed to anything special.
Q. Are you some kind of coffee connoisseur?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: I'm starting to get into it. I really started to like it the last year or so.
Q. You normally find a good spot?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Every week I'm trying to find a good coffee shop and I usually go there like every day.
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