Leona Maguire continued her fast start to the season when she birdied her last two holes to open with a three-under 69 in the LPGA Drive On Championship at Golden Ocala in Florida.

After finishing tied 16th on her seasonal debut in the LPGA Gainbridge, she was tied for sixth, just two strokes behind Nelly Korda, Jennifer Kupcho and Austin Ernst, who shot five-under 67’s to lead by a shot from China’s Jing Yan as Stephanie Meadow’s 71 left her tied 29th.

According to the LPGA Tour:

The numbers suggested a stress-free time in the LPGA Tour’s return to Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club for Jennifer Kupcho, who 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 struggled through that,” said Kupcho, who hit 15 greens this afternoon. “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 started being a little bit more aggressive with the putter. Made a lot of birdies coming in.”

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 of the lead. 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 leaderboard. 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.”

Ten players are tied for sixth at -3 after 18 holes 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, one of two winners on the LPGA Tour in 2021. 

NELLY KORDA PICKS UP IN OCALA RIGHT WHERE SHE LEFT OFF IN ORLANDO
With a bogey-free, 5-under par 67 in the first round of the LPGA Drive On Championship presented by Volvik at Golden Ocala, Nelly Korda has shot under par in nine straight rounds to open the 2021 season, and owns 10 consecutive under-par rounds dating back to the 2020 CME Group Tour Championship.

“I’m more about consistency,” said Korda, who hit 12 greens in regulation this afternoon and 10 of 14 fairways. “I know there are going to be bad rounds and you can't play perfect every single round, but the more you minimize your mistakes and more consistent you get with your swing, figuring out what works for you, the better.”

Coming off her fourth career victory and first on American soil last week at Gainbridge LPGA, Korda is well aware of the difficulty in winning back-to-back tournaments on the LPGA Tour. As the 18-hole co-leader at Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club, she is positioned nicely for a run at a second-straight victory. 

“I told my caddie [Jason McDede] that the people who win back-to-back events, props to them. It is so mentally exhausting,” said Korda, who is aiming to become the first back-to-back champion on the LPGA Tour since Danielle Kang won the LPGA Drive On Championship—Inverness and Marathon LPGA Classic presented by Dana last August. “I just take it one week at a time. Small goals eventually build to your big goals.”

AUSTIN ERNST AND #DRIVEON CHAMPIONSHIPS: TWO PEAS IN A POD
The LPGA Drive On Championship presented by Volvik at Golden Ocala is the third event of the Drive On Championships series, which began with the LPGA Drive On Championship—Inverness last July and was followed by the LPGA Drive On Championship—Reynolds Lake Oconee in October. Two-time LPGA Tour champion Austin Ernst has been part of all three fields and earned a pair of top-25 finishes in 2020.

After day one in Marion County, Ernst is right on her way to another. She is one of three individuals tied for the lead thanks to seven birdies en route to a 5-under par 67.

“Game feels really good. Made some good putts today, hit some good shots. Kind of had a mix of some quality iron shots and then some good putting,” said Ernst, who started slowly with back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 3 and 4. “The front nine I struggled early, but overall it was really good. Then I had a really good chip-in on No. 17.”

Ernst’s most recent LPGA Tour victory came at the 2020 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. With all of the absurdity comes a lot of respect from Ernst, who is simply grateful to compete in another tournament during the challenging times for many.

“It's really cool that the Tour has backed a few of these [Drive On Championships]. We've had Volvik this week helping to put it on. But to be able to play while we're still in the middle of a pandemic and a lot of places are in lockdown, it's really fortunate that we get to play,” Ernst said. “I know we're all very happy that we're getting to play.”

JENNIFER KUPCHO BATTLES MORE THAN THE GOLF COURSE
She got on a tear early. After three opening pars to start the Drive On Championship presented by Volvik, Jennifer Kupcho went on a birdie barrage, reeling off four in a row and looking like she might open a wide first-round lead. Throw in the fact that two of the holes on the back nine at Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club are tributes of the 12th and 13th at Augusta National, site of Kupcho’s victory at the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur, and it was easy to imagine what Thursday morning might hold.

She played well, posting one more birdie and no bogeys for a 5-under 67, good enough for a share of the early lead with Nelly Korda and Austin Ernst. But Kupcho battled more than the golf course in the opening round. An old unwelcome friend came calling midway through the final nine.

“I actually ended up getting a migraine, so I was struggling through that, still am as it continues,” Kupcho said after the round, a look of familiar pain etched across her face. “I was just trying to get through that and really just focused on playing the best that I could with that on the back nine.”

The debilitating headaches remain a medical mystery. Some researchers point to genetic and environmental factors, while others insist that they come from the electrical interaction between the brain stem and the trigeminal nerve. Those who suffer have little desire to engage in such neurological debates. They just want a cure. Quickly, and as quietly as possible, please.

Fans of the game likely remember the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur when Kupcho took a seat behind the ninth tee and put her head in her hands. At the time, no one knew what was happening. Kupcho had been battling with Maria Fassi in the final group and Fassi had made a charge at the eighth. Many viewers thought Kupcho was reacting emotionally to the state of the tournament.

She wasn’t.

When migraines hit, they feel like a construction crew running jackhammers inside the skull and Kupcho has trouble seeing out of her left eye. The fact that she was able to finish the back nine that day in Augusta and win the event in dramatic fashion was nothing short of a miracle.

Her 67 on Thursday in Ocala was equally impressive. She parred the Augusta replica holes and then birdied the 13th, a replica of the Road Hole at the Old Course in St Andrews. After that, she ground out one par after another, including on the par-5 18th where another issue crept up.

To read the full story from Steve Eubanks on LPGA.com, visit:
https://www.lpga.com/news/2021/kupcho-battles-more-than-the-golf-course

ANNA NORDQVIST #DRIVEON STORY: “THIS IS FOR EVERY GIRL WHO’S BEEN TOLD TO GIVE UP”
You might recognize the title of this piece from the LPGA’s Drive On film, “This is for Every Girl.” I was one of five players in that film, shot at the 2019 HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore. Each of the players read the full script, and the editors assembled the narration by choosing the lines we delivered best. That was my line, my voice.

What the editors didn’t know was how much that line means to me. Here’s why.

Things in life have never come easy for me. I wasn’t the smartest girl in class or the most talented athlete. It’s funny to say that now as a two-time major champion, but that’s because I worked at it. Whatever I felt I lacked in talent, I made up for in hard work. When I put in the time, the success came, both in school and in sports. There’s never been any other way than to work extremely hard and put my full heart into overcoming challenges.

And there have been plenty of challenges.

I didn’t start playing golf until I was 13 years old. That, in and of itself, is a hurdle when it comes to competing on the LPGA Tour. By that age, Michelle Wie and Lexi Thompson were already competing in majors. I was still learning the game.

My grandfather would take my two brothers and me to the golf course to practice. We would spend time with him rather than going to daycare when our parents were at work. Those were some of my favorite memories, spending time with Grandpa. He was always my biggest role model. He was also the most stubborn person I’ve ever met. I probably inherited that trait from him. He was my biggest cheerleader, always sending me little messages of encouragement, telling me to keep fighting. To never give up.

Those were the words I’d think about when it took me four years of practicing to qualify for the Swedish National Team. Day and night, winter and summer, in the rain and the snow. There were no conditions that scared me away. I was the one on the range when other golfers started their round and I was still practicing long after they finished. I had to outwork everyone else to prove not just to myself but to those around me that I had the talent to compete with the best in Sweden. “Keep fighting,” Grandpa would tell me. Those were the words that kept me going when I left my family to move to the United States to play golf at Arizona State University.

To read the rest of Anna’s first-person piece on LPGA.com, click here:
https://www.lpga.com/news/2021/anna-nordqvist-this-is-for-every-girl-whos-been-told-to-give-up

Link to video: https://www.lpga.com/videos/2021/never-give-up-anna-nordqvist-s-drive-on-story

Rolex Rankings No. 3 Nelly Korda (67)

• Korda hit 10 of 14 fairways and 12 greens in regulation, with 25 putts

• This is the third time she has held the 18-hole lead/co-lead; the most recent occurrence was at the 2019 Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA, which she won in a playoff

• This is Korda’s fifth season on the LPGA Tour; she has four career victories on the LPGA Tour and most recently at the 2021 Gainbridge LPGA

• This is her third start of the 2021 season; she finished solo third at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions and won Gainbridge LPGA last week

• This is her second appearance at a LPGA Drive On Championship event; she finished T40 at the LPGA Drive On Championship—Inverness in 2020

• Member of the 2019 U.S. Solheim Cup team, posting a 3-0-1 overall record

• Finished at No. 9 in the 2016 Volvik Race for the Card on the Symetra Tour to first earn LPGA Tour membership as a 2017 rookie

Rolex Rankings No. 21 Jennifer Kupcho (67)

• Kupcho hit 12 of 14 fairways and 15 greens in regulation, with 28 putts

• Her first-round 67 is the second-lowest first round of her career; she carded a 66 at the 2019 Evian Championship

• Kupcho is in her third season on the LPGA Tour and owns a career-best result of runner-up at the 2020 ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer

• This is Kupcho’s second event of the 2021 LPGA Tour season; she captured a T21 finish at the second annual Gainbridge LPGA

• She won the 2020 Colorado Women’s Open

• In 2019, Kupcho won the inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur

• She turned professional in 2019 and made her pro debut at the U.S. Women’s Open that year; she deferred LPGA Tour membership after 2018 LPGA Q-Series so she could finish her senior year at Wake Forest University

Rolex Rankings No. 33 Austin Ernst (67)

• Ernst hit 12 of 14 fairways and 12 greens in regulation, with 25 putts

• This is Ernst’s third event of the 2021 season; her best finish so far was T17 at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions presented by Insurance Office of America

• Ernst is in her ninth season on the LPGA Tour; she has two career wins at the 2014 Cambia Portland Classic and 2020 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship pres. by P&G

• She was a member of Team USA at the 2017 Solheim Cup with a 2-2-0 overall record

• Won the 2011 NCAA Championship individual title at LSU; graduated in 2014 with a degree in Business Management

• Hosts the annual Austin Ernst Charity Pro-Am event to benefit Safe Harbor, a domestic violence shelter