Austin Ernst announced on Wednesday that she will no longer play full-time on the LPGA Tour. The three-time Tour winner has been dealing with a lingering neck injury for the last 18 months and said in her pre-tournament press conference at the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer that despite her best efforts to rehab the injury, her “health is not at 100%.”
“I'm just not in a place where I can play full-time anymore, so I am semi-retiring,” said Ernst at Seaview Golf Club in Galloway, N.J. “If this week goes well then I'll play one or two more later in the summer.
“I've gone ten years where I haven't had any injuries. I haven't had anything like this. You kind of think you're invincible. I think that's when the thought process changed where it wasn't , okay, like I'll definitely be back out. It was, okay, let's put our health first. Let's think about some things. Let's think about life post-golf. You know, having family. I'm 31 now, so I'm I've got a long life ahead. Let's not do anything right now to where I can't do things when I'm 40 or 50. Kind of order priorities.”
Ernst also announced that she has accepted an assistant coaching position at Texas A&M University, working alongside head coach Gerrod Chadwell, husband of the United States Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis.
“I'm excited to get into college golf, into coaching,” said Ernst. “Still stay in golf, which is nice for me, and still be able to help the younger generation, develop them, and hopefully you'll see a lot of them out here. I'm sad to step away from professional golf full time, but it's health-wise what I have to do.”
Despite the bittersweet news, Ernst is excited to be back playing this week at the ShopRite LPGA Classic and is happy to be amongst her Tour family once again, even if some are a little surprised to see her.
“I've just been really excited to get back to competition. I played a U.S. Open qualifier last month, but haven't really played tournament golf in over 14 months, so it's cool to come back, see everybody,” Ernst said. “I think everybody thinks they're seeing a ghost when they see me. I've had a lot of double takes this week so far. It's been fun to be back out on tour.”
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