LPGA Drive On Championship R3

March 04-07
Golden Ocala Golf Club, Ocala, Florida
$1,500,000
Round 1, Round 2, Round 4

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Austin Ernst made four birdies and a single bogey over the first eleven holes and parred all the way back to close with a 69 for the solo lead at 13-under 203 in the LPGA Tour’s Drive On Championship.

“I didn’t quite have it ball-striking-wise today,” said Ernst. “I hit a few good shots, but then kind of sprayed a few drives and kind of had to work a little bit harder that I have had to work the last couple days.”

“I know I need to go play well. I can’t not play well and win, so it’s going to be the same type stuff. Obviously, sleeping on the lead the last two days I know what to expect. I’ve slept really well.”

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Her overnight co-leader Jennifer Kupcho eagled the par-5 18th to get back within one shot of the lead with a 2-under 70.

“I actually was like standing on the tee and I was like, `I feel an eagle coming on.’ So, it was pretty cool to do it,” said Kupcho. “But when I got down there to the fairway I definitely didn’t think it would be possible to get it close and I was not aiming anywhere close to where my ball went, but it happened to go right at the pin and carried by a couple yards, carried the water by a couple yards, and ended up in a good spot. I was able to just make the putt.”

Kupcho, who has yet to win on Tour, overcame an early bogey at the 2nd and another at the 13th to stay in contention.

“It was just a tough start. The greens were really slow when it was raining and I ended up three-putting the second hole.”

Albane Valenzuela turned professional in November 2019 and did not have the rookie year she expected. First she suffered a nerve-related injury that prevented her from practicing, then Covid-19 put a halt to golf, then last November, her appendix nearly ruptured, requiring emergency surgery. Finally, a few weeks ago she caught the coronavirus.

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“I spent a lot of time in bed for the past five months,” said Valenzuela.

But on Saturday six birdies highlighted a bogey-free third round 66 and she lies six shots behind Ernst in a tie for third place alongside Patty Tavatanakit (69) and Jenny Coleman (70).

First-round co-leader Nelly Korda, who won the Gainbridge LPGA at Lake Nona last week, dropped back to 3-under after shooting four bogeys and a double bogey to close with a 76. She is tied at 11th with sister Jessica and four other players.

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Pos.	Player	To Par	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Austin Ernst	-13	67	67	69	203
2	Jennifer Kupcho	-12	67	67	70	204
T3	Jenny Coleman	-7	70	69	70	209
T3	Patty Tavatanakit	-7	70	70	69	209
T3	Albane Valenzuela	-7	70	73	66	209
T6	Carlota Ciganda	-5	71	65	75	211
T6	Danielle Kang	-5	72	70	69	211
T8	Brittany Altomare	-4	70	73	69	212
T8	Ashleigh Buhai	-4	70	70	72	212
T8	In Gee Chun	-4	70	73	69	212
T11	Jennifer Chang	-3	73	71	69	213
T11	Cheyenne Knight	-3	71	70	72	213
T11	Lydia Ko	-3	69	72	72	213
T11	Nelly Korda	-3	67	70	76	213
T11	Jessica Korda	-3	69	75	69	213
T11	Leona Maguire	-3	69	71	73	213
T11	Hee Young Park	-3	73	72	68	213
T18	Jaye Marie Green	-2	68	72	74	214
T18	Charley Hull	-2	74	70	70	214
T18	Megan Khang	-2	69	72	73	214
T18	Katherine Kirk	-2	69	72	73	214
T18	Jeongeun Lee6	-2	69	77	68	214
T18	Mel Reid	-2	70	74	70	214
T24	Aditi Ashok	-1	72	73	70	215
T24	Perrine Delacour	-1	71	74	70	215
T24	Lindy Duncan	-1	69	73	73	215
T24	Haeji Kang	-1	73	72	70	215
T24	Sei Young Kim	-1	72	70	73	215
T24	Nanna Koerstz Madsen	-1	73	71	71	215
T24	Gaby Lopez	-1	69	72	74	215
T24	Caroline Masson	-1	70	75	70	215
T24	Sophia Popov	-1	74	70	71	215
T24	Jennifer Song	-1	70	72	73	215
T24	Elizabeth Szokol	-1	72	73	70	215
T35	Nicole Broch Larsen	E	72	74	70	216
T35	Ally Ewing	E	71	73	72	216
T35	Kristen Gillman	E	75	70	71	216
T35	Cristie Kerr	E	74	69	73	216
T35	Bronte Law	E	70	73	73	216
T35	Ryann O’Toole	E	71	71	74	216
T35	Jing Yan	E	68	74	74	216
T35	Angel Yin	E	71	74	71	216
T43	Brooke M. Henderson	1	74	69	74	217
T43	Jaclyn Lee	1	74	71	72	217
T43	Xiyu Lin	1	72	70	75	217
T43	Yu Liu	1	70	70	77	217
T43	Stephanie Meadow	1	71	75	71	217
T43	Sung Hyun Park	1	73	73	71	217
T43	Mariah Stackhouse	1	69	74	74	217
T43	Lexi Thompson	1	74	69	74	217
T51	Georgia Hall	2	74	72	72	218
T51	Sarah Kemp	2	72	72	74	218
T51	Jane Park	2	70	76	72	218
T54	Tiffany Joh	3	73	71	75	219
T54	Stacy Lewis	3	71	73	75	219
T54	Haley Moore	3	75	71	73	219
T54	Anna Nordqvist	3	74	70	75	219
T54	Annie Park	3	71	72	76	219
T54	Sarah Schmelzel	3	71	74	74	219
T54	Jenny Shin	3	74	72	73	219
T54	Lindsey Weaver	3	72	74	73	219
T62	Cydney Clanton	4	74	72	74	220
T62	Daniela Darquea	4	72	74	74	220
T62	Laura Davies	4	75	69	76	220
T62	Dana Finkelstein	4	75	70	75	220
T62	Wichanee Meechai	4	73	73	74	220
T67	Dani Holmqvist	5	70	76	75	221
T67	Mi Jung Hur	5	69	72	80	221
T67	Eun-Hee Ji	5	75	70	76	221
T70	Mina Harigae	6	74	71	77	222
T70	Yealimi Noh	6	74	72	76	222
CUT	Celine Boutier	3	73	74		147
CUT	Sarah Burnham	3	73	74		147
CUT	Sandra Gal	3	76	71		147
CUT	Jiwon Jeon	3	73	74		147
CUT	Jin Young Ko	3	75	72		147
CUT	Mi Hyang Lee	3	75	72		147
CUT	Haru Nomura	3	75	72		147
CUT	Laura Restrepo	3	76	71		147
CUT	Angela Stanford	3	75	72		147
CUT	Marina Alex	4	74	74		148
CUT	Ssu-Chia Cheng	4	72	76		148
CUT	Azahara Munoz	4	73	75		148
CUT	Madelene Sagstrom	4	71	77		148
CUT	Lizette Salas	4	75	73		148
CUT	Alena Sharp	4	75	73		148
CUT	Lauren Stephenson	4	74	74		148
CUT	Anne van Dam	4	72	76		148
CUT	Pajaree Anannarukarn	5	74	75		149
CUT	Wei-Ling Hsu	5	73	76		149
CUT	Caroline Inglis	5	75	74		149
CUT	Brittany Lincicome	5	76	73		149
CUT	Mind Muangkhumsakul	5	72	77		149
CUT	Pornanong Phatlum	5	75	74		149
CUT	Robynn Ree	5	74	75		149
CUT	Jasmine Suwannapura	5	74	75		149
CUT	Maria Torres	5	74	75		149
CUT	Nasa Hataoka	6	75	75		150
CUT	Esther Henseleit	6	74	76		150
CUT	Giulia Molinaro	6	81	69		150
CUT	Gerina Piller	6	77	73		150
CUT	Linnea Strom	6	79	71		150
CUT	Amy Yang	6	76	74		150
CUT	Suzuka Yamaguchi	7	76	75		151
CUT	Jillian Hollis	8	76	76		152
CUT	Esther Lee	8	76	76		152
CUT	Liz Nagel	8	73	79		152
CUT	Chella Choi	9	76	77		153
CUT	Brittany Lang	9	74	79		153
CUT	Tiffany Chan	10	71	83		154
CUT	Maria Fassi	10	76	78		154
CUT	Caroline Hedwall	10	79	75		154
CUT	Pernilla Lindberg	11	78	77		155
CUT	Sarah Jane Smith	11	77	78		155
CUT	Jackie Stoelting	11	78	77		155
CUT	Muni He	12	82	74		156
CUT	Marissa Steen	12	76	80		156
CUT	Emma Talley	12	76	80		156
CUT	Alana Uriell	13	79	78		157
CUT	Katherine Perry-Hamski	14	79	79		158