Five Takeaways from the Drive On Championship at Golden Ocala

Photo Provided by Ben Harpring

1) Austin Ernst Roars on Sunday for Third Career Victory

It was 2,191 days between the first and second career victories for Austin Ernst, as it was a day shy of six years between her win at the Cambia Portland Classic in 2014 and the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in 2020. Ernst bypassed that wait for her third career victory, as she dominated the field on Sunday at the Drive On Championship at Golden Ocala 203 days after winning in Arkansas. Entering with a one-shot lead over Jennifer Kupcho, Ernst began what felt like lapping the field at the fourth, birdieing the par three while Kupcho bogeyed to extend her lead to three.

The birdies kept coming like a repeat of a greatest hit, as Ernst posted four in a row through seventh to extend her lead to six.

It felt like a nearly insurmountable lead, but Ernst had to hold the line as Kupcho began putting the pressure on. After a birdie at the 10th to cut it to five, Kupcho was launching a sequel to her legendary comeback at the Augusta National Women's Amateur.

The par five 12th at Golden Ocala is a tribute hole the 13th at the home of The Masters, where Kupcho eagled on Sunday to defeat Maria Fassi at the inaugural ANWA. Once again, Kupcho put herself in position to eagle the hole, sitting 12 feet below on the fringe with a right to left breaking putt. It takes two to come back from a five-shot deficit, as Ernst nearly found the hazard with her third and chipped it to four feet left of the flag.

The 21st ranked player in the world's eagle bid broke what felt like right over the top of the cup to sit mere inches from dropping in. The heart-wrenching miss would've further compounded Ernst's miss for par and instead made it a three-shot lead with six to play. Another opportunity to cut a shot off the leader presented itself with Ernst missing a par bid on the 14th, and Kupcho rolled a four-footer by the flag.

The tournament ended after Kupcho found the hazard on the par three fifteenth, doubling the hole to give Ernst a stress-free five-stroke lead with three to play. Ernst drove home on cruise control, which is precisely how her game feels.

“I think in the last year I've played better than I ever have. I think when I do play well I manage it much better, when I'm not quite firing on all cylinders. But I think the control I have with my putter; always been a pretty good chipper; feel like I'm a very good chipper now. Feel like I have a really good feel for my swing. I feel the most in control of my game I ever have,” Ernst explained.

2) Danielle Kang Maintains Reign of Drive On Championships

Finding Danielle Kang near the top of the leaderboard at a Drive On Championship is joining death and taxes as the guarantees of life as she notched a third top 10 finish in the three Drive On Championships the tour has played. She won the inaugural edition at Inverness Club, finished in second to Ally Ewing, nearly holed out to force a playoff at Reynolds Lake Oconee, and finished tied for sixth this week.

Kang rebounded from a missed cut last week at the Gainbridge LPGA to surge into the top of the leaderboard. The strong performance is another step towards Kang's goal of representing the United States at the Olympics, as she's currently the second highest-ranked American in the world in fifth, trailing only Nelly Korda, who is in third place before the rankings update after this tournament. Each country is guaranteed up to two representatives in Tokyo and up to four if those players are within the top 15 in the rankings.

3) Jennifer Kupcho Overcomes Early Migraine for third career 2nd place finish, Race is on for Olympic Spot

In the first round, Kupcho was sitting just outside 200 yards into the 18th green, a green light opportunity to reach the par 5 in two. Golf Channel Analyst Karen Stupples, stupefied by the lack of going for it, with the 23-year-old electing to lay up and end the hole with a par to card a 67 and a share of the lead.

In Kupcho’s post-round interview with Stupples, she shared she was battling a migraine and didn't feel comfortable attacking the green. Her vision was blurry for most of the back nine Thursday and subsided to a low roar Friday before it went away over the weekend.

The 23-year-old eagled the 54th hole to make it a one stroke lead for Austin Ernst heading into play Sunday, and weathered the storm.

While her play Sunday didn’t turn out as she wanted, Kupcho is on the precipice of breaking into representing the red white and blue in Tokyo in 2021. She needs to be within the four highest-ranked Americans and within the top 15 in the world. Before the rankings update, Kupcho is 21st in the world, trailing Jessica Korda at 18th for the 4th best from the United States. Ernst, at 33rd, is also going to surge up the rankings with the victory.

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

4) Jenny Coleman Breaks Out for Career-Best Finish, Rookies Showcasing Ability

You are forgiven for not knowing who Jenny Coleman was before this week. The 2017 LPGA Tour rookie lost her status and re-earned it with a third-place finish in the 2019 Symetra Tour money list, giving her status for 2020 and extended to 2021 with the pandemic freezing status. Her best career finish was T26 at the 2020 ISPS Handa Vic Open and she made three cuts in 25 career starts.

Her 26th was an explosion, a third-place finish to give her a strong amount of CME points for securing status next year and a comfort level in her ability going forward.

“It's so nice to have worked so hard and finally my game is kicking into gear. Last year was just, man, just kind of plodding along. Now I'm finally getting after it.”

Rookies Albane Valenzuela, Leona Maguire, and Jennifer Chang also posted top 10 finishes this week, as Maguire trails Patty Tavatanakit by seven points after her T6 finish. Valenzuela’s 5th place finish moved her to 3rd in the rookie of the year race with 79 points, and Chang is in 4th place with 61 points after her T8 finish.

The 9th Tee Podcast guest shared her goals on the LPGA Tour season, including winning the rookie of the year and her first event before the start of the season and can be listened to here.

5) Solheim Cup Watch Heats Up with American Dominance to Open 2021

It’s the first time since 2007 that Americans have won the first three events of the season, when Paula Creamer, Stacy Prammanasudh, and Meaghan Francella won the SBS Open at Turtle Bay, Field Open in Hawaii, and the Mastercard Classic, respectively. The Korda sisters and Ernst matched that feat, and all three are in prime position to represent the United States at the Solheim Cup. Ernst moved from 7th in Solheim Cup points to _ with the victory,

The win gives Ernst breathing room for the Solheim Cup, as she had a 1.5 point lead over Brittany Altomare for the final spot to make the team by points heading into the week. Now, Ernst is in third place with 182.5 points.

The US announced seven players are coming off points instead of eight, and The U.S. Solheim Cup Committee allocated an additional captain's pick to Pat Hurst. Additionally, two players get in off the Rolex Rankings, with Jennifer Kupcho (21st) and Stacy Lewis (30th) the two currently in position.

“I think there are a lot of good American players now. I mean, Danielle is my age, maybe a little bit younger; Jess is year younger than me. And then Nelly, Nelly is unbelievable now,” Ernst shared after play.

Jin Young Ko left the door slightly more open for an American to take the number one spot, as the top player in the world missed the cut for the first time since the AIG Women's Open in 2018.

Bets of the Week Analysis

Jessica Korda- T8

Lexi Thompson- T18

Patty Tavatanakit- T18

Sophia Popov- T48

Anne van Dam- MC

DFS Recommendation

Ashleigh Buhai- T34

Top 10s are good, but the only hope for winning this week was selecting either Kupcho or Ernst. Tavatanakit had a tough final day shooting four over. Buhai also didn’t finish strong, as she was in the top 10 until the floor fell out from under her with a back nine of five over par.

Jessica Korda will likely see a higher price going forward, which I’ll stay away from until she shows the level of Florida play (now at 60% top 10s since 2017) more consistently.

2021

Units Bet: 75

Units Won: 0

ROI: N/A

*10 units allocated to year-long money race bet*

Current Money Title Positions

Lexi Thompson- 4th

Brooke Henderson- 17th