She went 6 years between LPGA Tour wins. Now SC’s Austin Ernst having strong 2020
Austin Ernst won the 2011 NCAA individual championship to cap her freshman season at LSU, qualified for the LPGA Tour two years later and collected her first pro title in 2014, her second pro campaign.
She almost added to her win total each year, including missing a playoff for a major title in the 2018 Evian by one stroke. What she labels “a rough year” followed in 2019, which led to an offseason dedicated to rediscovering her game.
Although delayed by the coronavirus outbreak that forced tournament cancellations and an adjusted schedule, the fruits of her labors are showing in a big way.
Ernst, 28, finished fifth in the Women’s British Open at Royal Troon, the Tour’s first 2020 major, on Aug. 23 and followed that by winning last week’s Northwest Arkansas Championship with a final-round of 8-under-par 63.
“I have always known I was good enough to be (on the Tour) and win,” she said in reflecting on her second career LPGA triumph. “I just didn’t think it would take this long” to win again, “but you appreciate it more.”
Ernst, 28, grew up in Upstate South Carolina in Seneca and learned the game from her dad Mark, a PGA of America professional and longtime general manager at Cross Creek Plantation. He remains her coach, and brother Drew, an accomplished golfer who won the 2010 S.C. Amateur, completes the family affair as her caddie.
“After last season, we looked at what was holding me back and really concentrated on my driving and putting,” she said. “In putting, we changed everything: the grip, the putter, everything. That’s really paid off the past few weeks. I could see my game trending in the right direction, and I’m playing with a lot of confidence now.”
Although she had gone 144 starts and almost six years between wins, Ernst had been a solid LPGA Tour performer until 2019. Even then, she made 18 cuts in 22 starts, yet she had only one top 10 and dropped to 68th in the season-long standings and 72nd in earnings.
“I made a lot of cuts but I wasn’t in contention,” Ernst said. “That was the toughest part because I had had such a good year in 2018.”
That 2019 season a far cry from the player who made the 2017 U.S. Solheim team and posted multiple top-10 finishes annually between 2013, her rookie year, and 2018.
Now, she’s third in 2020 earnings, has climbed to 25th in the world rankings and looks forward to the tournaments ahead, starting with this week’s ANA Inspiration, the current name of the former Dinah Shore event and one of the Tour’s major championships.
“I came into this season with a fresh outlook,” Ernst said. “I was getting antsy to play after the canceled tournaments, but the extra time off helped me get comfortable with the changes.
“I’ve never gone that long without playing (tournaments) and that was strange. On the other hand, we’re grateful our sponsors stuck with us and we have the opportunity to play again.”
After the ANA Inspiration, the Tour returns to Portland, the site of Ernst’s first victory, and then on to Atlantic City and the Women’s PGA in Philadelphia. The revised schedule moved the U.S. Women’s Open to December with the Tour Championship the week before Christmas.
“I just want to keep on doing what I’m doing,” she said in looking ahead. “I have always had high expectations for myself and some of those (runner-up) finishes were frustrating, but winning again gives me more confidence. I’m excited about the future.”
Chip shots. USC’s women, one of the country’s premier teams with four All-American in the lineup, will play October tournaments in Fayetteville, Arkansas, West Point, Mississippi, and Atlanta in the fall season shortened by the pandemic. The Arkansas and Atlanta events will be televised by the Golf Channel. ... Ryan Ogle is taking over as championship director of the 2021 PGA Championship, set for May 17-23 at Kiawah Island Golf Resort’s Ocean Course. He replaces Scott Reid, who left the PGA of America in July to pursue an opportunity in sports marketing.