Late-blooming American standout Lauren Coughlin prepares for Solheim Cup debut at age 31

GAINESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Lauren Coughlin has discovered the more she talks about her golf — good or bad — the better she plays.

The newest and perhaps unlikeliest standout in American women's golf, Coughlin is known as much for her candor as her ball-striking. She makes her Solheim Cup debut this week as the oldest player on the U.S. team, a few weeks shy of her 32nd birthday.

“I think it’s why I’ve been able to get better in my career is because I’m willing to talk about it and think about it and reflect,” Coughlin said Wednesday at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, “and not judge myself for not doing it when I needed to. Like, for not hitting a shot or for playing bad or whatever, you know, not getting it done in a certain situation. And I think some people see that as a weakness.

“But think I've used it as a strength to kind of be able to improve.”

Coughlin's improvement has been so dramatic that she began the year just hoping to play in her first Solheim Cup in her home state and enters the team competition against Europe as one of the top American players. At No. 14 in the world, only three teammates are ranked ahead of her, and she's the only player of the two dozen Solheim competitors with multiple LPGA Tour wins this year other than top-ranked Nelly Korda (who has six).

She's doing it at an age when many LPGA stalwarts are ready to walk away. Lexi Thompson, two years younger, says this will be her final full season, and Lydia Ko, a Hall of Famer at age 27, has said she expects to retire by the time she's 30.

“I was a late bloomer coming out of high school, like even in high school, physically and mentally,” Coughlin said. “And it just took me a while to kind of get things figured out. But I eventually did.”

Coughlin played in college at Virginia, married a Cavaliers football player and still lives in the Charlottesville area, about 65 miles south of this week's Solheim venue. She made four scouting trips to RTJ, including the weeks before the Evian Championship (she finished third), the CPKC Women's Open (she won) and the Women's Scottish Open (she won again).

Not bad for a player who began the year having never cracked the top 100 in the world and has never played for a U.S. team, even as a junior or amateur.

U.S. captain Stacy Lewis said she appreciates having two experienced rookies in Coughlin and 30-year-old Sarah Schmelzel who worked so hard to make the team.

“They're playing the best golf of their careers as well, but for it to happen at this point, I think it's just the appreciation level is a lot higher,” Lewis said.

They join a group that has had mostly negative experiences in the Solheim Cup, with only Thompson and Alison Lee having been part of a winning U.S. team. Europe has captured the cup the last three times.

Coughlin knows what shots to play at long, tree-lined RTJ, which has hosted the Presidents Cup three times, and she prepared Wednesday morning by simulating the alternate-shot format in a practice round with veteran Ally Ewing. But she can only imagine how she'll feel when she strikes her opening tee shot surrounded by a grandstand full of fans.

“I’m sure I’m going to be pretty excited come Friday morning, but again, that’s something I’ve been thinking about and trying to mentally prepare myself for all year,” Coughlin said. “All I've ever heard is the nerves that you feel and the adrenaline that you feel on that first tee shot.”

No matter the result, she'll be willing to share her thoughts about every swing with the listeners who've followed her rise through multiple appearances on the “No Laying Up” podcast. The relationship began when Coughlin, at the time a developmental-tour player seeking to increase her profile, sent a direct message on Twitter to a staffer with the golf media company. She and her husband, John Pond, were fans already.

“I knew how big their following was,” Coughlin said. “The die-hard golf fans are NLU fans.”

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

United States' Ally Ewing tosses her ball to her caddie on the first green during a practice round prior to the Solheim Cup golf tournament at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in Gainesville, VA. (AP Photo/Matt York)

United States' Rose Zhang hits on the fourth green during a practice round prior to the Solheim Cup golf tournament at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in Gainesville, VA. (AP Photo/Matt York)

United States' Lexi Thompson wears shoes with her likeness on them during a practice round prior to the Solheim Cup golf tournament at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in Gainesville, VA. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Team USA poses for a team photograph prior to the start of the Solheim Cup golf tournament at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Gainesville, Va. (AP Photo/Matt York)

The Solheim Cup is shown during team portraits prior to the start of the Solheim Cup golf tournament at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Gainesville, VA. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Lauren Coughlin poses for a photo near the first hole at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va., on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Nuckols)

United States' Lauren Coughlin hits from the first tee during a practice round prior to the Solheim Cup golf tournament at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in Gainesville, VA. (AP Photo/Matt York)

DENVER (AP) — Sean Payton made the gutsiest call in Super Bowl history, ambushing Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts with a stunning onside kick coming out of halftime at Super Bowl 44 to nab the New Orleans Saints' only Lombardi Trophy.

Payton also ushered in the second chapter of his coaching career by attempting an onside kick against the Las Vegas Raiders in the Denver Broncos' opener last year.

It failed when cornerback Tremon Smith touched the football just before it had traveled the requisite 10 yards, and that may very well have been the reason Payton lost in his Denver debut. But it proved that he hadn't abandoned his risk-taking disposition when Greg Penner hired him out of Fox's broadcast studio.

The NFL's new kicking rule s have taken away coaches' ability to pull a fast one on unsuspecting opponents while also making them think long and hard about trying one when desperate times call for it.

Teams can only try it in the fourth quarter now and only if they're losing. And, most importantly, they have to declare their intention to try an onside kick.

Two teams tried and failed Sunday.

Green Bay’s Evan Williams recovered the Colts' onside kick with 1:47 remaining and the Packers ran out the clock in their 16-10 victory over Indianapolis.

Shortly thereafter, Minnesota's Nick Muse recovered the 49ers' onside kick with 1:12 left and Sam Darnold kneeled out the clock in the Vikings' 23-17 win.

It appeared the Broncos would become the third team to try it when they cut the Pittsburgh Steelers' lead to 13-6 on Wil Lutz's chip-shot field goal with 1:54 remaining in Denver.

But Payton elected instead to kick off even though he only had one timeout left and rookie quarterback Bo Nix has yet to find the end zone with any of his 77 passes, which rank as the third most in the league.

“We spent a lot of time going through it back and forth,” Payton said after Nix's second interception as time expired sealed the Broncos' loss. "It was just weighing the odds versus recovering an onside kick or getting the ball back with 26 seconds.

"We chose to kick off.”

The Steelers ran three times before newly signed punter Corliss Waitman, who played for the Broncos in 2022 and earned a “ petty game ball ” along with quarterback Russell Wilson and receiver Brandon Johnson afterward, booted a beauty of a 54-yarder to the Denver 10.

Marvin Mims Jr. returned the punt 9 yards, leaving the Broncos with 81 yards to go in just 9 seconds.

Josh Reynolds caught Nix's first down pass for 13 yards and as he was getting tackled he pitched it to Mims, who raced out of bounds at the Denver 34 with 1 second to spare.

With 66 yards to go, Nix lined up in the shotgun for one final play, stepped up and zipped his 35th pass of the game over the middle where Damontae Kazee easily intercepted it at the Steelers 40.

Shunning the onside kick was one of several eyebrow-raising calls by Payton.

Down 13-0 with 10:45 remaining, the Broncos were facing fourth-and-6 at the Pittsburgh 16 when Payton sent Lutz out for the chip-shot field goal that got the Broncos on the scoreboard but left them with the same two-score deficit.

“Time-wise we felt like we were still in a good position, looking at the clock," Payton explained.

The Broncos' biggest bugaboo has been their ineffective ground game. With scramble totals of 35 yards and 25 yards, Nix has been Denver's leading rusher in both of its games.

With rookie Audric Estime sidelined Sunday, the Broncos promoted running back Tyler Badie from their practice squad and on his first carry he reeled off a 16-yard gain midway through the second quarter.

He never got another handoff even though from that point on, Javonte Williams carried nine times for 10 yards, Jaleel McLaughlin ran once for 7 yards and Nix gained 5 yards on a designed run.

Asked Monday why Badie didn’t get another chance after providing the Broncos with their longest run of the game and second-longest of the season behind Nix’s 23-yard scramble in Seattle, Payton said, “It's about trying to find touches for the third back.”

“It’s much easier with a rotation of two,” Payton continued. "Getting the third back involved, sometimes it’s special teams, sometimes in the passing game, and it was a good run by him. It’s something we’re — you take notice of it, though. It’s something as a play-caller, as someone who’s looking at the game, I’ve got to be able to see that."

Baseball has its spitball and football has its ... puke pass?

At one point during Green Bay’s win over the Colts, Packers coach Matt LaFleur asked quarterback Malik Willis why he didn’t throw on a particular play. Willis explained that center Josh Myers had just vomited on the football.

This story has been corrected to show that the Saints won Super Bowl 44, not 34.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton talks during the post game news conference after an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton talks to line judge Julian Mapp (10) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)