Ernst wins Drive On Championship for 3rd LPGA Tour title
Albane Valenzuela misses a putt during the final round of the LPGA Drive On Championship at Golden Ocala in Ocala, Florida on Sunday, March 7, 2020. [Alan Youngblood/Special to the Ocala Star-Banner]OCALA, Fla. โ Austin Ernst won the Drive On Championship on Sunday for her third LPGA Tour title, pulling away to beat fellow former NCAA champion Jennifer Kupcho by five strokes at Golden Ocala. She won the NCAA title in 2011. Itโs just unfortunate thatโs when mine came for the week.โWinless on the tour, the former 23-year-old former Wake Forest star from Colorado won the NCAA title in 2018 and the inaugural Augusta National Womenโs Amateur in 2019. Nelly Korda, tied with Ernst and Kupcho for the first-round lead, had weekend rounds of 76 and 75 to tie for 28th at even par.
Jessica Korda with 60 moves within 2 shots of Danielle Kang
A sizzling 28 on the back nine โ 9-under par โ at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club Orlando lifted Korda to an 11-under 60, just one shot off the LPGA Tour scoring mark. She will take a two-shot lead over Korda into Sunday in what sets up as a terrific shootout for the LPGAโs season opener:Kang leads Jessica Korda by two and Nelly Korda (67) by six. Jessica Korda, 27, is the older of the LPGAโs uber-talented sisters โ younger sister Nelly, 22, is No. Korda added a ninth birdie at the challenging, water-guarded par-3 18th, where she struck a soft 6-iron to 9 feet. Kang is the player to beat, sure, but finally, the Kordas will play with something big on the line.