LPGA winner makes unexpected return at TOC as a mom and college grad

Austin Ernst has lived a lot of life in the 2 ½ years since she left the LPGA. She got a job, had a baby and finished her degree. But her competitiveness, that desire to compete at the highest level, never disappeared.

It was injury that took Ernst away from the tour. A bone spur to be more specific.

“I didn’t think people under 60 got bone spurs,” said Ernst. “They can’t really tell me why it happened.”

But now, after several years away from the grind of full-time professional golf, 33-year-old Ernst is ready to make a comeback. At least a part-time one.

Ernst will make her return later this month at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in Orlando, Florida.

How does a player who last won in 2021 get in such a limited field?

A combination of medical and maternity leaves gives Ernst one year left to play in the TOC. Each winner gets a two-year exemption. Ernst competed in the TOC in 2022 and then took 2023 off while on medical leave. (She played in only two events in 2023.) She took off 2024 and 2025 after giving birth to son Charlie on Dec. 14, 2023.

A three-time winner on the LPGA, Ernst’s last victory came at the 2021 LPGA Drive On Championship.

The neck injury first popped up at the Lotte Championship in April 2022. She played that first round in Hawaii and everything was fine. After dinner, she started to feel nerve pain in her right shoulder. At 1 a.m. she woke up with intense pain and by 3 a.m. she was in the lobby, trying not to disturb roommate Amy Olson, while waiting to withdraw.

The good news was that she didn’t have nerve pain all the time. The bad news was that golf was the only thing that seemed to cause it. Doctors told her surgery might only make it worse, so she announced in the summer of 2023 that she was stepping away from the tour after accepting a job as assistant coach at Texas A&M. While playing collegiate golf at LSU, Ernst won an NCAA title on A&M’s home course.

In December, she and husband Jason Dods welcomed Charlie.

In the midst of this life transition, Ernst decided to finish school. If she wanted to be a head coach somewhere, Ernst knew she’d need it.

With just over two years of credits in the bank, she enrolled in LSU’s Project Graduation program and shifted from a degree in business management to sports commerce so that she could finish it all online. She graduated in December 2025.

Time away from the game and work with Maddison Furman at Adams Performance allowed Ernst's neck to heal. She played four straight days of golf in October and felt fine. The former Solheim Cup player decided to get back to her dream job.

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Ernst hopes to play around 10 events in 2026, neck willing. She comes back with the LPGA’s highest status, Category 1, and is No. 33 on the priority list draft.

She’ll be in the field for at least two majors (Chevron and Evian) and plans to bring Charlie to events that don’t require a flight.

“We have a nice village of grandparents that help out,” she explained.

Ernst and her husband moved back to Richmond, Virginia, after her coaching stint in Texas. Her father, Mark, her longtime swing coach, moved to Richmond with her mom in 2025 to take a job as head professional at Lakeside Park Golf Club, a Donald Ross design.

Brother Drew will caddie for her at the TOC as his normal boss, Grace Kim, won’t be making the trip from Australia for the season-opener. Drew and his wife welcomed a son, Everett, last summer, shortly before Kim won the Amundi Evian.

Ernst said she doesn’t have any expectations for 2026 inside the ropes. She understandably grinds less on the range these days, and lessons with dad take place more often on the golf course than the practice tee. When the weather is nice, son Charlie is often seen running down the fairways with his plastic club. Like most kids, he’s a big fan of the golf cart.

“I’m still competitive enough that I’d like to try to win tournaments,” said Ernst. “Fields are deeper than when I was playing, but I still believe in my ability.”

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: LPGA winner makes unexpected return at TOC as a mom and college grad