Austin Ernst put the finishing touches Sunday on a golden week at Golden Ocala with a five-shot victory at the LPGA Drive-On Championship.
Ernst picked up her third LPGA Tour victory and made it clear from the start that this was her tournament. She began the final 18 holes with just a one-shot lead over Jennifer Kupcho. But Ernst got to work early. She was four-under par through her first seven holes and turned that one-shot lead into a six-shot lead. By the 11th hole, Ernst still led by five shots.
Kupcho had a chance to cut the lead to two shots at the 13th, a replica of the Road Hole (17th) on the Old Course at St. Andrews. Kupcho watched Ernst miss her par putt from nine feet and was three back at the time. But Kupcho failed to convert her eight-footer for par.
Things came crashing down for Kupcho when she hit her tee shot in the water at the par three 15th, made double and handed Ernst a five-shot lead with just three holes to play. Ernst closed it out with three straight pars for a closing 70 and a 15-under par winning total. Kupcho’s 74 dropped her back to 10-under but she was solo second. American Jenny Coleman had her best-ever finish on the LPGA Tour. Her closing 71 gave her solo third at eight-under par.
“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,” Ernst said after her win. “To hit the shots I hit, and to shoot the scores I shot, I think it’s just kind of 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 turned things around after missing the cut last week at the Gainbridge. “I think the difference this week even just the last week was I just fully committed to believing in what I do and that it’s good enough,” Ernst pointed out. “I think this week proved that it’s more than good enough. It was fun to walk up and know that I was going to win. I haven’t had that yet, so that was fun.”
