OCALA, Fla. – Jennifer Kupcho shot a 12-foot eagle shot at the final hole to cut Austin Ernst’s lead for a shot on Saturday at the LPGA Tour’s Drive On Championship.
Kupcho landed a 2-under 70 in the rainy Golden Ocala, arming the eagle with a 215-yard fairway wood that just overtook the rocks and water facing the green at par 5 18th.
“Actually, I was standing on goal and I thought, ‘I feel an eagle coming.’ So, it was really cool to do that, “said Kupcho.” But when I got to the field I definitely didn’t think it would be possible to get close and I wasn’t aiming anywhere near where my ball was, but it happened to go straight on the pin and carried by a few meters, I carried the water for a few meters and ended up in a good spot. I just managed to putt. “
Ernst destroyed the last six holes in a 69.
“I didn’t get to hit the ball today,” said Ernst. “I got some good shots, but then I kind of spread out a few drives and I kind of had to work a little harder than I had to work in the past few days.”
The two-time LPGA Tour winner contributed birdie in the par 4 ninth. She was 13 and under 203 years old.
“I know I need to play well.” Ernst said. “I can’t not play well and win, so it will be the same kind of thing. Obviously, sleeping in the lead for the past two days, I know what to expect. I slept very well.”
Kupcho did not win on the tour. The former Colorado Wake Forest star won the 2018 NCAA title and the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2019.
She overcame a slow start on Saturday to stay close.
“It was just a difficult start,” said Kupcho. “The greens were very slow when it was raining and I ended up making triple the second hole.”
Albane Valenzuela (66), Patty Tavatanakit (69) and Jenny Coleman (70) tied for third place, with 7 below expectations.
Nelly Korda had a 76 to drop to 3 below. She won the Gainbridge LPGA last week at Lake Nona after her sister Jessica Korda won the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions.
Laura Davies, the 57-year-old Hall of Famer who recovered from an opening 75 with 69 on Friday to advance to the weekend with a pair, finished 4 after 76. She is playing in an exemption from the World Golf Hall of Fame .
Ernst and Kupcho are in a position to give the United States three consecutive wins to open a season for the first time since 2007.