Madelene Sagstrom outlasts Lauren Coughlin, wins Match Play title

Madelene Sagstrom of Sweden went the distance Sunday, finishing off her quarterfinal match before prevailing in the semifinals and defeating Lauren Coughlin 1 up in the finals of the T-Mobile Match Play in North Las Vegas.

All told, Sagstrom played 36 holes at Shadow Creek Golf Course on Sunday against three different opponents to collect her second LPGA Tour victory and her first since January 2020.

"I'm exhausted and I bet Lauren is exhausted," Sagstrom said. "I'm so tired and I think it really kind of hit my swing there in the middle. I said to (caddie Shane Codd), 'I can do this. I just need to find some sort of feeling it hit some good golf shots again.'"

Sagstrom's quarterfinal match against France's Celine Boutier was suspended due to darkness Saturday with the pair tied through 17 holes. They went to a 19th hole, where Sagstrom converted a birdie to put Boutier away.

The 46th-seeded Sagstrom then beat No. 10 seed Angel Yin 4 and 2 to set up a showdown with No. 13 seed Coughlin, who edged 32nd seed Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand 1 up in the semis.

Sagstrom won four of her first six holes against Coughlin before committing a double-bogey 7 at No. 7. Coughlin won that hole and added birdies at her next two, wresting away the momentum.

Coughlin went ahead by winning the 11th and 12th holes, where Sagstrom recorded another double and a bogey, respectively. Sagstrom got back in the game by parring the par-3 13th while Coughlin bogeyed.

Sagstrom then went ahead for good at No. 16 when Coughlin carded a double.

"It was kind of sitting up and there was some grass behind it and it just hit like a pillow off my ball, off my club face," Coughlin said of the shot that did her in at No. 16. "Just kind of unfortunate.

"I thought I hit a really good shot in there. It just caught this slope at the end. I thought I stuffed it, really. I wish I could have that one back a little bit and maybe play a little bit more out to the left than I did."

Despite her own miscues, Sagstrom has plenty of reason to be confident in her game.

"I feel so comfortable standing over the ball at the moment, and most the times it comes out nice," Sagstrom said. "It's just such a nice feeling."

In the semifinal against Yin, Sagstrom won holes 2-5 and protected the healthy lead the rest of the way. Coughlin trailed Jutanugarn nearly the entire match before winning Nos. 16, 17 and 18 to flip a 2-down deficit into a surprise victory.

All seven of Coughlin's matches in the five-day tournament went to 18 holes.