Former LPGA Drive On champions Austin Ernst, Ally Ewing enjoy atmosphere of event

The LPGA’s Drive On Championships are one-off events created by the tour to help give players more events to play in, since the coronavirus pandemic affected so many overseas events the past couple of years.

So there are in effect no “defending champions” but two of the past winners of the three previous Drive On Championships spoke Wednesday ahead of the fourth edition, which starts Thursday at Crown Colony Golf & Country Club in Fort Myers.

Austin Ernst won by five last year at Golden Ocala in Ocala, and Ally Ewing won at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Georgia in 2020. Danielle Kang won the first Drive On, at Inverness earlier in 2020, and was originally in the field this week but withdrew over the weekend.

“I think it’s great what the tour is doing giving us another opportunity to play,” Ernst said. “Otherwise you kind of start the year, especially if you weren’t in Tournament of Champions. You play one week and have a break and go to Asia.

“So I think it’s great to get these events and to get more starts, especially since we’re still in the COVID era. So the more we can play the happier we are. It’s nice for golf courses like Crown Colony to open up and let us come here on such short notice.”

Ewing beat Kang by a stroke at Reynolds Lake Oconee on Oct. 25, 2020.

“The LPGA has obviously taken Drive On and ran with it, and it’s been a great addition to our campaign and just overall just encouraging people to Drive On,” Ewing said. “And the LPGA, just supporting that and adding some tournaments like this, our fourth edition as you’re saying, it’s fun, and we’ve got some unique stuff going on this week that’s been a cool player experience.”

Ewing’s victory catapulted her to another win and also a berth on the U.S. Solheim Cup team. She doesn’t have a hard time remembering it considering the date.

“I remember it was my birthday,” said Ewing, who turned 28 that day. “My parents were there, which was just great, especially considering COVID had shut them down from coming to really any event. It was pretty close to home.

“So it’s kind of crazy to reflect back on it. It certainly was a huge confidence boost for me in where I was now versus then.”

Ernst hasn’t won since then, but it’s still something she can draw from.

“I have great memories of that week, great memories kind of leading up,” she said. “Missed the cut last year at Lake Nona right before that week and this year I missed the cut last week, so good sign for me.

“Just the entire week I played great golf and I wish we were back at Ocala.”

Ewing said this week at Crown Colony has a similar feel to Reynolds Lake Oconee, especially since that one also was more during the height of the pandemic so there were no fans.

“I think the just the Drive On experience itself is kind of — the atmosphere that it creates, it’s kind of unique because it is kind of an LPGA-run tournament, which is maybe different than our sponsor-run tournaments,” Ewing said. “So it has a great feel. Everything is tight knit with it being streamed on Peacock, members only kind of fans.

“So it does kind of feel like a smaller atmosphere, which is unique. Sure, I can create some vibes of Reynolds Lake Oconee if I need to.”

Starring in their own show

“LPGA All Access: CME Group Tour Championship,” a behind-the-scenes documentary, premiered two of its three episodes on Monday and Tuesday, with the last slated for 8 p.m. Wednesday.

All of the footage was shot during the CME Group Tour Championship, which was played at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in November. The 15-minute episodes are on YouTube and LPGA.com.

And it’s not just on the golf course.

Amy Olson, Ewing and Naples’ Sophia Popov were featured playing pickleball.

“It’s a very cool initiative to showcase what we do off the golf course,” Popov said. “Pickleball is something that I love to do a lot, so that is fully me right there; 100% the competitiveness also.

“I actually tried to tone it down a little bit for that video. Amy said, ‘OK, just be you but maybe not that intense.’ I’m like, ‘OK, I’ll try. I’ll try. But I’m going to try to win, and she said, absolutely.’”

Ewing deferred to Popov and Olson as far as pickleball skills, but she still enjoys playing it nonetheless.

“That is something that we’ve done for some weeks where we try to get out and do something different, play pickleball,” Ewing said. “So to highlight — you see Gaby (Lopez) working out, us playing pickleball, different things on the golf course.

“I think it’s just good for our fans to engage and see what we’re doing, what’s going on. It’s great for us as players to step away and do stuff that’s a little out of our element. It’s also good for people to see who we are as individuals, not just the golfers we are on the course.”

Popov also found a different pickleball fan a couple of weeks ago in the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in Orlando — former star wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

“He’s saying he’s really into pickleball, so that was pretty cool,” Popov said. “It’s the fastest growing sport in the U.S. right now, so just something fun to do outside of golf. It’s so different.”

“So I think it’s fun to show a feature like that because that’s truly what we do off the golf course. It’s something that takes your mind off at the same time, whether you’re playing good or bad, so that’s kind of been nice.”

Former Seminole makes the field

Frida Kinhult came up short in the Gainbridge LPGA Monday qualifier, but the long drive back to Tallahassee was worth it this week.

Kinhult, a former Florida State golfer, birdied the second hole of a playoff Monday to grab the second and final spot in the field this week.

“Last Monday, I had to drive six hours home (to Tallahassee), so that was motivation to not do it again,” said Kinhult, a 2020 Epson Tour graduate and 2021 LPGA Tour rookie. “You never know with a Monday (qualifier). Someone can go out and fire a 9-under. You never know what it is going to require. I just try to go out there and be aggressive.”

Kinhult shot 74-71 and missed the cut at the Volunteers of America Classic last July in her only other LPGA start.

“The best players are out here,” said Kinhult, who finished in a tie for 26th at the 2021 LPGA Q-Series. “I mean, it’s still the same sport (from playing Epson Tour the last couple years), still the same tournament format, so just have to grind it out. I am going to do my best and see what happens.”

Greg Hardwig is a sports reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. Follow him on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter: @NDN_Ghardwig, email him at ghardwig@naplesnews.com. Support local journalism with this special subscription offer at https://cm.naplesnews.com/specialoffer/