07/26/24 11:50:00
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07/26 23:48 CDT Coughlin holds into CPKC Women's Open lead; Canadian star
Henderson derailed by closing bogeys
Coughlin holds into CPKC Women's Open lead; Canadian star Henderson derailed by
closing bogeys
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) --- Lauren Coughlin held onto the lead Friday in the CPKC
Women's Open, while Canadian star Brooke Henderson was derailed by closing
bogeys at windy and smoky Earl Grey Golf Club.
Coughlin followed her opening 4-under 68 on Thursday in chilly and windy
conditions with a 70 on Friday to get to 6 under, a stroke ahead of Hannah
Green and Haeran Ryu. The temperature made it into the 70s after barely
climbing into the 60s on Thursday.
"I think I handled it really well overall," Coughlin said. "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."
Playing through a smoky haze from wildfires, Henderson bogeyed the final four
holes in her afternoon round for a 73 that left her seven strokes back at 1
over. She won the 2018 tournament.
"Most of the day I was 3 under, so feeling pretty great," Henderson said. "To
walk away 1 over, that's not the best feeling. But all you can do is move
forward and try to learn from some of the things you did out there."
Coughlin is coming off a fourth-place finish two weeks ago in France in the
major Evian Champions. The 31-year-old former University of Virginia player is
winless on the LPGA Tour.
On Friday, she had three front-none birdies and dropped a stroke on the par-4
11th. In two rounds, she's 7 under on the first nine holes and 1 over on the
second nine.
"I putted extremely well," Coughlin said. "Two-putted really well all day. Took
advantage of the front nine, which you have to, and then kind of hold on on the
back nine."
Green matched Coughlin with a 70. The Australian is a two-time winner this
year, taking the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore in February and
the JM Eagle LA Championship in April.
"It was tough again out there," Green said. "There was some pretty strong wind
gusts, especially our last few holes, so committing to the shot you were
envisioning was kind of difficult."
Ryu bogeyed the 18th for 69.
"The weather is really bad," Ryu said. "Is a little bit cold and so windy."
The 23-year-old South Korean player won the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship
last year for her first LPGA Tour title. She was second last week in Ohio in
the Dana Open.
Three-time champion Lydia Ko had a 71 to join second-ranked Lilia Vu (70) and
Jennifer Kupcho (72) at 3 under. Ko won as an amateur in 2012 at age 15,
successfully defended her title as an amateur in 2013 and won as a professional
in 2015.
"It's not easy --- and I think the scores are showing," Ko said. "Anything kind
of under par the past couple days is a really solid round. I'm pretty happy
with the way I started this week."
Kupcho topped the leaderboard at 8 under after birdieing five of the first
eight holes in her morning round, then was 5 over the rest of the way. She had
a double bogey on the par-4 16th, four bogeys and a birdie on her final nine
holes.
"I'm pretty upset," Kupcho said. "I think in hindsight I still hit 15 greens.
Like I was hitting the ball really good. Three-putted 10 and 11 and four-putted
16. I didn't play bad. Just had a couple shaky putts down the stretch --- and
that's going to happen."
Lexi Thompson was in the group with Henderson tied for 26th at 1 over after a
73 The American plans to play a limited schedule after this season.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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