Ernst cops Drive On Championship crown
OCALA, Florida: Austin Ernst won the Drive On Championship on Sunday (Monday in Manila) for her third LPGA Tour title, pulling away to beat fellow former NCAA champion Jennifer Kupcho by five strokes at Golden Ocala.
Tied for the lead with Kupcho after each of the first two rounds and a stroke ahead entering the day, Ernst closed with a 2-under 70 to finish the wire-to-wire victory at 15-under 273.
“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. “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 in myself kind of what I can do.”
Kupcho, coming off a closing eagle on Saturday (Sunday in Manila), had a double bogey and three bogeys in a 74.
Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., finished in a tie for 44th place at 2-over 290. Calgary's Jaclyn Lee finished in a tie for 62nd after shooting a 7-over 295.
Following sisters Jessica and Nelly Korda in the first two events of the year, Ernst gave the United States three straight victories to open a season for the first time since 2007.
“I think the difference this week even just last week was I just fully committed to believing in what I do and that it’s good enough,” said Ernst, who missed the cut last week in the Gainbridge LPGA with rounds of 75 and 72.
The 29-year-old former LSU star from South Carolina, showing her school spirit Sunday with a purple shirt, also won the 2014 Portland Classic and the 2020 NW Arkansas Championship. She won the NCAA title in 2011.