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OCALA, FLORIDA | Flair is a lot of fun. Jordan Spieth aces and Bryson DeChambeau long-drives over water get lots of social media clicks and emoji comments. But patience and maturity still win golf tournaments. Just ask Austin Ernst, who captured her third career victory at the LPGA Drive On Championship with a final-round 70 at Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club.
On a course with firm, new greens and enough undulations that the replica holes built to the specs of the 12th, 13th and 16th at Augusta National didn’t look out of place, Golden Ocala could make you look silly if you got too aggressive. Throw in a cold rain on Saturday and a swirling north wind on Sunday and strategy and experience were even more critical.
Ernst understood that. At age 29 and in her ninth year on tour, she stretched Saturday’s one-shot lead ahead of Jennifer Kupcho to six shots at the turn on Sunday with birdies at Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 7 on her way to a comfortable victory.
“I think pretty much every hole I hit it close I hit a wedge of some sort,” Ernst said of her approach. “You really kind of need to be aggressive off the tee to be able to get those numbers. Then you kind of know there are some holes that it’s just so hard to hold the green.
“I think when I knew I didn’t have as good a number or as much green to work with, I kind of placed it in a good spot just over the green or on the right side of the green to where I still had a look at birdie and I didn’t have to work very hard.”
“My distance control has been good, so I’ve kind of been able to attack it where I’ve had those good numbers. Where I’ve had wedge opportunities, I’ve been able to make a few birdies."
Austin Ernst
Ernst’s father, Mark, who is the director of golf at Cross Creek Plantation in Seneca, South Carolina, has been her only coach. They speak after almost every round and the goal is always to minimize mistakes. A mature Austin has accomplished that. She never let the longer-hitting Kupcho force her out of her game plan. If the smart play was laying up on a par-5, that’s what Ernst did, regardless of the play of others.
“My distance control has been good, so I’ve kind of been able to attack it where I’ve had those good numbers,” Ernst said. “Where I’ve had wedge opportunities, I’ve been able to make a few birdies.
“That’s been something that I’ve learned over time. It’s just one of those things now I kind of know, especially here with the greens firm, how much the ball is going to release. I know if I’ve got a pin that’s tucked and I don’t have a good number that I should hit it 15 feet right of the hole instead of trying to go right at it and end up spinning it in a bunker or somewhere that’s not great.
“I think now I know when and where to pick apart a golf course. That's something that I’ve learned over time.”
Steve Eubanks