Tag: Austin Ernst

Austin Ernst clinches third LPGA title with wire-to-wire victory at Drive On

“(Austin’s) really starting to believe in herself,” Drew Ernst said. “You can tell just talking to her, she’s almost a different person.”

OCALA, Florida – Austin Ernst won her first tournament on the LPGA seven years ago in a playoff. For her second title, she carded a final-round 63 to come from behind at last year’s Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. At the LPGA Drive On, the 29-year-old went wire-to-wire to win by five strokes over Jennifer Kupcho.

“I think it’s just really cool to be in the heat of it all week and to be able to perform the way I did,” said Ernst, who closed with a 70 to finish at 15-under 273.

“To hit the shots I hit, and to shoot the scores I shot, I think it’s just kind of a testament to me, that I can do this week in and week out and just if I have a little belief myself kind of what I can do.”

Ernst’s older brother Drew had a front-row seat every week as Austin’s caddie and her performance in Ocala only confirmed what he’s already known. Just last week, Drew told his sister that she was a top-10 player in the world.

“She’s really starting to believe in herself,” said Drew. “You can tell just talking to her, she’s almost a different person.”

Austin Ernst putts on the 11th green during the final round of the LPGA Drive On Championship at Golden Ocala Golf Club on March 07, 2021, in Ocala, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Americans have now won the first three events of the season for the first time since 2007. Jessica and Nelly Korda, two of Ernst’s good friends, won the first two events in Florida. Jessica will be Austin’s maid of honor later this year.

“I practice a good bit with Jess, play a good bit with Jess, play a bit with Nelly out here,” said Austin. “We always want to beat each other, so I think it’s kind of one of those things that it just kind of pushes you. When you see your friends win, you want to win. So you kind of want it one-up them as much as you can.”

The friendly competition will continue all year as Americans jockey for position in the Rolex Rankings for a berth in the Summer Olympics and Solheim Cup team.

A maximum of four U.S. players could qualify for Tokyo and all four must be ranked in the top 15. Ernst was ranked 33rd coming into the week and Kupcho was 21st.

The two NCAA champions came into Sunday’s final round separated by a single stroke. The next group of players sat six strokes back.

Four consecutive birdies on the front nine built Ernst’s lead to six as she made the turn.

There are three Augusta National replica holes at Golden Ocala and the final round featured Sunday Masters hole locations. It looked like Kupcho might summon some of her Amen Corner magic when she pulled hybrid out on the 12th hole (a replica of the 13th).

Kupcho, of course, stuffed a 3-hybrid to 6 feet at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur two years ago and poured in a pivotal eagle putt en route to victory. On Sunday at Drive On, her 4-hybrid from about 200 yards settled to the right of the hole this time.

“I thought the putt was falling the whole way,” said Kupcho of her eagle putt, “and just wrapped right around the hole. Really tough hole location to make a putt on for sure where I was at.”

Kupcho settled for birdie and cut Ernst’s lead to three strokes with six holes to play. Kupcho’s momentum ended there, however, as a bogey on No. 13 from and a watery tee shot on the 15th essentially sealed the victory for Ernst.

“I didn’t really think it was over until I hit the tee shot on 15,” said Kupcho. “Everyone hits bad shots. It’s just unfortunate that’s when mine came for the week.”

Professional golf has long been a family affair for the Ernsts. Their father Mark, general manager and director of golf at Cross Creek Plantation in Seneca, South Carolina, is her swing coach. That’s where she’ll marry Jason Dods in October, the week of the ShopRite LPGA.

Austin has stayed with Dods’ family for host housing in Atlantic City since her rookie year in 2013. The Dods have five children and Austin didn’t meet Jason, who was already out of the house, until 2016. When Jason came back in 2018, they hit it off over nightly family dinners. Austin was already in love with his mom’s cooking.

Now she’s in love with Jason’s cooking too.

“I think I’m so happy off the golf course,” said Austin, “that’s it has kind of translated on the golf course.”

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ANA Inspiration battle the elements as wildfire smoke, extreme heat blanket Mission Hills

The heat isn’t the only concern at this week’s ANA Inspiration. Smoke from California wildfires could put players in carts too.

Austin Ernst and her brother Drew aim to take full advantage of the LPGA’s new cart rule at the ANA Inspiration. With 100-plus degree temperatures forecasted in Rancho Mirage, California, throughout the week, Ernst plans to pack a cooler with snacks and Gatorade for the back of the cart. She’ll also keep a wet towel around her neck and walk with a sun umbrella. If Austin wants to talk to her brother, she’ll tell him to drive slowly down the fairway beside her.

With the LPGA major shifting from the spring to September due to COVID-19, the tour decided to allow caddies to use electric carts or push carts at Mission Hills Country Club’s Dinah Shore Tournament Course for safety reasons.

“I just thought, there’s really no reason not to take advantage of it,” said Austin, recent winner of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.

The heat isn’t the only concern. Smoke from California wildfires could put players in carts too.

“We’re continuing to monitor both the AQI (Air Qualify Index) and the temperature very closely,” said Chief Tour Operations Officer Heather Daly-Donofrio. “While we’re not out there yet, if it becomes clear from our medical team, and we’re also going to be working with the medical team at Eisenhower Medical, who’s a partner this week at the ANA Inspiration, if the high temperatures and the AQI converge to a point where we feel that’s unhealthy for walking … we have not ruled out carts for players on tournament days.”

Burning eyes and a scratchy throat impacted past champion Stacy Lewis early week at Mission Hills.

“For me, the smoke itself has been more of an issue than the heat,” she said.

Right now, Thursday’s forecasted high is the lowest of the four rounds at 100 degrees. Saturday and Sunday temps are expected to reach 110 and 113 degrees, respectively.

Danielle Kang, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 2, said that her caddie will not take a cart. Several longtime caddies told Golfweek the same, saying that it disrupted their routine and created more hassle than it was worth.

On Monday, the hottest day of the week in Rancho, Mirage, Anne van Dam tweeted out a TrackMan update: Her iPad overheated after two minutes, and her iPhone lasted eight minutes.

Lydia Ko calls Orlando, Florida, home when she’s not on the road and likens summers there to a complimentary sauna. The dry heat of the desert is different, of course, and she found the initial forecast “kind of frightening.”

“It’s (so) hot that you touch like the door handle of your car,” said Ko, “and it’s kind of on the slight sizzling point.”

Now that she has spent a few days in the desert heat, Ko said that she actually prefers the extreme temps to what she left in Orlando. Nelly Korda, a Florida native, said the same, a mentality that should serve both players well.

It does take work to beat the heat though, and Korda credited a massive headache on Monday to dehydration.

“I actually have a really hard time drinking,” said Korda. “Like I do not drink on the golf course. That’s something that I’ve always done, and I told (my caddie) yesterday on the first hole, I was like, you need to remind me to drink a lot.”

Pernilla Lindberg, winner of the 2018 ANA, gave her husband/caddie a carry bag for the week to lighten his load. She’ll rely on the water coolers on each tee box and take a pass on the cart.

After spending most of the off week resting in Utah, Lindberg headed to Rancho Mirage on Saturday afternoon when it was 120 degrees. Shorter practice days, more electrolytes and a bottle of water by her bed to start the day are keys to the week.

The San Jacinto Mountains typically provide a stunning backdrop for Mission Hills. It was a weird feeling on Tuesday, Lindberg said, when they disappeared behind thick clouds of smoke. Blue skies returned the next day, however, bringing hope for better days ahead.

“We’re watching the levels very closely,” said Daly-Donofrio, “but with the AQI you really can’t forecast out too far.”

 

Austin Ernst ends LPGA victory drought by holding off Anna Nordqvist in Arkansas

Austin Ernst has not won on the LPGA since 2014, but she broke that streak Sunday at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.

Austin Ernst has not won on the LPGA since 2014. But in breaking that streak Sunday evening at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, Ernst had to derail the ending of another such streak.

Ernst fired a closing 8-under 63 at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Arkansas. With a two-putt birdie on the par-5 closing hole, she effectively closed out Anna Nordqvist, who had taken the lead with a second-round 62 and was looking for her first LPGA win since 2017.

“It was long,” Ernst told Golf Channel of the break between her first LPGA victory and this, her second. “A lot longer than I thought it’d be.”

To be exact, it was 143 starts long.

Scores: Walmart NW Arkansas Championship

Ernst was one of many players who tried to take something positive out of the break in competition forced by a global pandemic. She worked hard on the putting green, even changing from a blade-style putter to a mallet.

“I just grinded on my putter and my wedges and driving the ball,” she said. “I think what’s held me back in the past was I didn’t hit quite as many fairways and I didn’t make as many putts.”

Ernst’s sole victory was at the 2014 Portland Classic, but another highlight of the 28-year-old’s career was her appearance in the 2017 Solheim Cup, where she compiled a 2-2-0 record. Interestingly, she played alongside Angela Stanford, an assistant captain for the 2021 Solheim Cup, in the final round at Arkansas.

The significance of that didn’t even cross Ernst’s mind, she said afterward. Still, she put on an impressive showing.

After starting the day in third, Ernst threw out 10 birdies on Sunday to combat two bogeys. Her final-round 63 followed up previous rounds of 65 and got her to 20 under, one better than Nordqvist.

For her part, Nordqvist hadn’t made a bogey all week until she reached the back nine on Sunday. She lost ground with bogeys at Nos. 12 and 14, but birdied No. 16 to have a chance coming up the final par 5. She needed a birdie there, but when she settled for par and a final-round 69, she found herself one shot short.

Stanford and Nelly Korda finished at 16 under, close behind on what became an exciting Sunday. Jenny Shin and Sei Young Kim tied for fifth another shot back.

There was another race going on in the final round at Arkansas, too. Two spots in the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open were on the line for players inside the top 10 who weren’t already in the field.

Shin claimed one of those, and the other went to Katherine Kirk, who secured a T-7 finish with a gutsy two-putt par on the 18th green. Kirk, of Australia, will play her 16th Women’s Open. It will be the 11th appearance for Shin, who finished T-10 in 2014.

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