Overnight leader Austin Ernst stalls slightly on Sunday; notches best finish of the year

American Austin Ernst was in position for her first victory of 2016, but her three birdies Sunday were offset by two bogeys, and her 1-under-par total for the day just wasn’t enough, as she finished runner-up.

It was her best finish of the year, but she was still upset at how the day ended up.

“Right now, I’m disappointed. I just didn’t play well enough to get it done,” she said. “I am just kind of frustrated with how I finished.”

Ernst bogeyed the par-3 16th, and she finished two shots back of Carlota’s Ciganda’s Citibanamex Lorena Ochoa Invitational presented by Aeromexico and Delta’s 13-under winning total, after she couldn’t convert her birdie tries on No’s 17 and 18.

“I had pretty good looks there,” she admitted.

Ernst, though, is eager to tee it up next week at the LPGA Tour’s season finale. She said she’ll be taking a lot of positives this week into that event.

“It was a solid week,” she explained. “I still had a chance there at the end, so that kind of tells me (my game) is definitely going in the right direction. Just keep doing the same stuff next week and see what happens.”

Karine Icher takes local caddie to tie for second

France’s Karine Icher used a little bit of local knowledge to record her best finish of the year, as after Sunday’s 3-under-par 69 she finished in a tie for second.

Icher used a caddie who has been at the Club De Golf Mexico for more than 30 years this week, as her husband – who is also her usual looper – was back in Orlando, Florida with the couples’ daughter.

“It was too complicated to bring her here (to Mexico), because we have no daycare so I took a local,” she explained. “He has the greens right.”

Somehow, they made it work, communicating only in sign language this week.

“I have no words in Spanish and he doesn’t speak any (words) in English. When you want to see the line, you (motion) to say ‘this matches’ more and ‘that’s OK’,” she explained. “Sometimes I saw maybe it was left-to-right, and it was actually right-to-left, so yes, he was helpful.”

Marina Alex with the round of the day

Thanks to an eagle on the par-4 13th, American Marina Alex fired Sunday’s round of the day, a 6-under-par 66, which moved her into a tie for 7th.

Alex had about 115 yards left after a tremendous drive. She knocked her wedge approach in the hole. It came after she made a bogey on the par-4 12th, and kept her momentum going for the rest of her round, where she made back-to-back birdies on No’s 15 and 16.

“I just three-putted the hole before, and then to walk (away) with an eagle after that kind of made everything OK. I made two really good birdies after that, and had looks on 17 and 18, the putts just didn’t go in,” she said. “But it’s OK. I had a great round.”

Despite two three-putts, Angela Stanford records best finish of 2016

By her own admission, American Angela Stanford felt weird saying she was ‘upset’ with her 3-under-par 69 Sunday at the Club de Golf Mexico. But with two three-putts, she knew it could have been a better day.

“It was a good day. It’s hard to shoot 3-under on Sunday and be upset, but I had those three-putts. The one on 11 would probably haunt me for a while, but I hit the ball really well and gave myself a lot of chances. I was never in a bad spot, so to be in contention and have a day like this is pretty encouraging,” said Stanford, whose runner-up finish was her best of 2016.

Ernst Notches Best Finish, Icher Uses Local Caddie and More from Mexico

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