By Keely Levins
On Saturday night at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, Anna Nordqvist looked poised to secure her first win since 2017. The two-time major winner had a three-shot lead over Sei Young Kim, and Austin Ernst, Nelly Korda and Jenny Shin sat four shots behind.

But on Sunday, it was Ernst, who’d been waiting even longer for her next win, hoisting the trophy. With rounds of 65-65-63, the 28-year-old from South Carolina won the 54-hole event at 20-under, two shots ahead of Nordqvist.

Ernst, the 2011 NCAA champ, left LSU after two years and joined the LPGA Tour in 2013. She won her first LPGA tournament quickly, the 2014 Cambia Portland Classic. And she’s been waiting since for her next victory, 144 tournaments to be exact.

“It was very frustrating,” Ernst said. “I had finished second I think every year from 2015 to 2018. Every single season. So, it was frustrating to get so close and not get a win when I knew that I could win.”

Though Ernst had to come from four shots back, she was never intimidated while at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Ark. “I’m trying to birdie every hole out there,” Ernst said Saturday night. “I know that you can birdie every hole out there, too.”

Jamie Squire
ROGERS, ARKANSAS – AUGUST 30: Austin Ernst hits her first shot on the 2nd hole during the final round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship at Pinnacle County Club on August 30, 2020, in Rogers, Arkansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

She’s not wrong. Throughout the tournament, there were only three holes she didn’t birdie. She hit every fairway on Sunday and made 10 birdies en route to her 63.

Ernst credits the long break as being crucial to getting her game into winning shape. She took the first part of the LPGA Tour’s five and a half month break completely off, citing burnout. Once she felt that she wanted to practice again, she got to work on her putting with the help of her coach, who’s also her father. They changed her putter from a blade to a mallet, switched the grip to a SuperStroke and went from conventional to cross-handed.

“[The pause in competition] gave me a great break to come back rejuvenated and have something that I want to work on,” Ernst said. “I had kind of lost my confidence last year, and to take that break and to take that time where I got to just kind of decompress away from golf, which I’ve never really been able to do.”

Quietly, Ernst had a strong performance at the AIG Women’s British Open the week prior, finishing fifth. Being close to the lead, she was on TV more than usual and her dad noticed a little issue with her stance.

“He noticed that I was a little bit more upright and my hands were a little behind the ball last week,” Ernst said. “So, the quick adjustment this week was, okay, feel like your hands are just forward of the ball and bend from the waist just slightly more. So that little adjustment seemed like the ball started on line more and the contact was more consistent.”

She had to wait a long time for her second win, longer than she expected. But now that it’s here, she’s more ready for subsequent wins than she was back in 2014.

“It’s a little bit of a weight off my shoulders to get this win, but I also think it’s going to be more of a springboard than maybe in ’14,” Ernst said. “Obviously I played good golf after that, but I never got that second win. I think now having two wins seems so much more solid than just having one. You can almost — people might say it’s a fluke if they won once.”

There’s nothing fluky about a top-five finish at a major followed by a win.

The post Austin Ernst wins birdie-fest at LPGA Walmart NW Arkansas Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
That Nasa Hataoka would walk away the winner of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship didn’t seem the likely outcome when the final round began early Sunday. Not when you consider the caliber of players the 19-year-old from Japan, who hadn’t yet won on the LPGA Tour, was about to face at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Ark.

Hataoka shared the 36-hole lead with Australia’s Minjee Lee. Two shots back were American standout Lexi Thompson. Three shots back sat 2018 U.S. Women’s Open winner Ariya Jutanugarn. This trio combined for 22 wins on tour, while Hataoka’s best finish since joining the tour a year ago was a T-2, which she earned by losing the playoff to Jutanugarn at the 2018 Kingsmill Championship.

But Hataoka’s lack of winning experience on tour didn’t seem to register with her at all, as she appeared in total control while shooting a final-round 63 that included eight birdies. Meanwhile, her competition struggled to keep up; Hataoka’s closest finisher turned out to be was Austin Ernst, who was six shots behind.

“I was focusing on my game the entire 18 today,” Hataoka said. “Yeah, I’m so happy to win.”

Over the course of the 54-hole tournament, Hataoka shot rounds of 64-65-63 for a 21-under total, beating the tournament scoring record by three strokes. Hataoka missed just six fairways and six greens for the entire tournament. The $300,000 winner’s check nearly doubles her career earnings.

“She’s just got a great game, no weaknesses, pretty long off the tee and just rolls it amazing on the greens,” said Lexi Thompson of the new winner. “So it was great to watch. It was definitely a well-deserved win.”

Thompson finished in a six-way tie for third, posting a final-round 69. While disappointed with the final outcome—she’s still looking for her first win in 2018—the tournament was a move in the right direction as she prepared for this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the third major of the 2018 LPGA season. Thompson’s best finish this year was a T-2 in February at the Honda LPGA Thailand. From February until the U.S. Women’s Open, she didn’t have any top-10 finishes. But Thompson followed up her T-5 finish at Shoal Creek with a T-9 at Meijer Classic and a T-3 this past week.

“I feel really good just overall how the week went,” Thompson said. “It was probably my best ball-striking week that I’ve had in a little bit. Just didn’t make the putts today, didn’t feel as comfortable on the greens like I did yesterday.”

Lee would shoot a closing 71 to also finish tied for third, while Jutanugarn shot a 73 to fall to T-27.

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The latest Rolex Rankings were released Monday morning, and there’s another new World No. 1 in women’s golf. So Yeon Ryu, fresh off her victory at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship on Sunday, grabbed the top spot for the first time in her career. The 26-year-old is the third South Korean to have climbed to No. 1, joining Inbee Park and Jiyai Shin. Ryu has won five LPGA titles, including two majors: the 2011 U.S. Open and the 2017 ANA Championship.

“Dreams come true!” said Ryu upon hearing of her No. 1 ranking. “I always dreamed about it. I cannot believe it.”

The LPGA has had three different World No. 1s in the past four weeks. Lydia Ko’s 85-week stretch atop the Rolex Ranking ended on June 12 when Aryia Jutanugarn took over the top spot after winning the Manulife LPGA Classic. She held the title for two weeks before dropping down to No. 2 after Ryu’s weekend win. Coupled with the fact that there have been 15 different winners in 16 events, it speaks to this being a stretch of some of the deepest talent seen in years in the women’s game. Ryu is the only player on the LPGA who has won more than once this season.

The post Another new No. 1 in women’s golf as So Yeon Ryu takes the top spot in Rolex Ranking appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.