Kupcho, Nelly Korda, Ernst, Tied for Lead at Golden Ocala
Friday, March 5, 2021

    The numbers suggested a stress-free time for Jennifer Kupcho in the LPGA Tour’s return to Golden Ocala at the Drive On Championship presented by Volvik.  Kupcho recorded five birdies and a clean card on Thursday for a 5-under par 67. All she could think about, though, was shedding the pain.

    “I actually ended up getting a migraine on the back nine, so I struggled through that,” said Kupcho, who hit 15 greens. “Honestly, about No. 14, I was ready to get off the golf course.”

    Nelly Korda matched the number posted by Kupcho, also in bogey-free fashion, while Austin Ernst was forced to scramble slightly more than her fellow co-leaders with seven birdies after a pair of early bogeys.

    “All day I just thought I’m going to go play golf,” said Ernst, who is making her third appearance at Golden Ocala where she competed at the Coates Golf Championship presented by R+L Carriers in 2015 and 2016 with finishes of tied for 13th and tied for ninth, respectively. “It was seeing one putt go in and then I started being a little bit more aggressive with the putter. Made a lot of birdies coming in.”

    Ernst made Facebook history in her last visit to Golden Ocala, when the final round was played on her birthday, Jan. 31, and the fans on the first tee serenaded her with a loud chorus of "Happy birthday to you." 

    The 67 from Korda comes four days after her fourth career win on the LPGA Tour at Gainbridge LPGA. Even though her “worst” round so far in 2021 is a 3-under 69 in the final round at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, she is still finding aspects of her game to work on.

    “I tried to keep it pretty simple and easy, worked on my swing a little yesterday because I wasn't hitting it great,” Korda said after finding 10 of 14 fairways. “I think being tired your swing is all over the place, so I tried to tighten it up. I hit it pretty solid today. Hopefully I can keep improving the next couple days.”


    Florida native Jaye Marie Green is joined by Jing Yan at -4 and just one shot back. She nearly holed her approach from 165 yards with a 7-iron on No. 9, her final hole of the day, which would have added her name to the top of the leader board. Instead, she settled for a 15-foot birdie from the fringe.

    “Feels good. My ball striking was a lot better than it was last week [at Gainbridge LPGA],” said Green. “I was really struggling with it last week. I kind of figured out a couple things. The greens are really firm because they’re brand new. When I hit it [on No. 9], I was like, ‘That could go in,’ and it almost did but ran off. It was nice to end my round making that putt.

    The top five scorers all played in the morning round. 

    Ten players are tied for sixth at -3, including 15-time LPGA Tour winner Lydia Ko and Jeongeun Lee6, the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open champion. Also among the group is Jessica Korda, Nelly's sister, one of two winners on the LPGA Tour in 2021.

    Among other marquee players, Stacy Lewis, whose teacher, Joe Hallett, is formerly from Ocala, shot 1-under -71 and is tied for 29th. Anna Nordqvist and Cristie Kerr are right on the cut line at 2-over 74, along with Lexi Thompson and Brooke Henderson. There are 85 players within the cut line. Hall of Famer Laura Davies is at 3-over 75, and Brittany Lincicome at 4-over 76. 

     Sandra Gal and Maria Fernanda Torres played their college golf 30 miles north at the University of Florida; Gal shot 4-over-76 and Torres 2-over 74.   

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