How Austin Ernst developed into one of the top golf stars to hail from South Carolina
Always a solid performer on the LPGA Tour, Austin Ernst sought more from her golf game. Making cuts, contending for tournament title multiple times a year and cashing checks no longer satisfied her.
A hard look at all aspects of her game after the 2019 season led to wholesale changes in her driving and her putting, and the results produced a wonderful byproduct called confidence.
Although the coronavirus outbreak delayed the opportunity for the alternations to bear fruit, her last 14 stars — beginning last August — look like this: two wins and three more top-10s.
The second win came last weekend, a wire-to-wire victory in the Drive On Championship in Ocala, Florida, and sent her stock soaring. She climbed to No. 3 in the season-long player of the year standings and vaulted to No. 14 in the Rolex world rankings.
Her goal of representing the United States in the Solheim Cup against the Europeans looks like a foregone conclusion, and hopes of wearing the Red, White and Blue in the Tokyo Olympics is suddenly realistic.
“I’m really confident with my game,” she said in recounting her third career tournament victory. “I’m fully committed to what I’m doing and I’m getting results. I’m comfortable on the golf course.
“What I’ve been doing, the shots I’ve hit, tells me I can do this week in and week out and shows what I can do when I believe in myself.”
Ernst, now 29, grew up in Seneca and has developed into the best woman golfer from South Carolina since hall-of-famer Beth Daniel. She learned the game from her dad, Mark, the long-time PGA professional at Cross Creek Plantation who is still her coach.
Ernst won the individual title in the NCAA Championships her freshman season at LSU and turned pro after her sophomore year. She qualified immediately for the LPGA Tour and won her first tournament in 2014.
She came close to adding more wins, including a playoff lost for the title in the 2018 Evian Championship, an LPGA major.
Her 2019 season led to re-evaluating her game. Although she made 18 cuts in 22 starts, she had only one top 10, falling to 68th in the season-long standings and 72nd in earnings.
The project led to total changes in putting, from the club to the grip, and the new style worked wonders. Her distance control took a giant leap forward.
She used a final-round 8-under-par 63 to win last August in the Northwest Arkansas tournament. In Ocala last weekend, she had at least a share of the lead after every round.
Jennifer Kupcho pulled within one stroke with an 18th hole eagle to end the third round, but Ernst wasted no time in take command on Sunday. Four front-nine birdies established a six-shot advantage. Kupcho threatened briefly, but Ernst pulled away again to win by five.
She will need more performances like that to turn the Olympic dream into a reality. The U.S. can send four players to the Games, provided all are in the top 15 in the world ranking. At the moment, Ernst, at 14, is fifth among American players behind Nelly Korda (3), Danielle Kang (5), Lexi Thompson (10) and Kupcho (12).
“The Olympics would be the biggest, and I’ve got to keep playing well and win more,” Ernst said. “But I’m put myself in position.”
Her newfound confidence works wonders.
Chip shots. Ryan Reynolds (Lugoff) and Brandon Cemprola (Columbia) joined forces to win the SCGA’s Partners Championship at Spring Valley CC and the Woodcreek Club. ... Jacob Bridgeman won his second individual title of the season and led Clemson to the championship in the Palmetto Intercollegiate tourney in Aiken. The victory gave coach Larry Penley, who is retiring after the season, the 80th tournament title of his hall of fame career. ... Nicholas Dunlap (Huntsville, Alabama) won the boys’ title and Jacqueline Putrino (Sarasota, Florida) earned the girl’s championship in the Dustin Johnson World Junior tourney at the TPC at Myrtle Beach. The high-profile field included 49 of the 60 boys and 25 of the 30 girls ranked among the top 100 juniors in the country.