BANK OF HOPE LPGA MATCH-PLAY

May 29, 2021

Ally Ewing

Shadow Creek

Quick Quotes

Q. What was it like inside that noggin of yours?

ALLY EWING: It was a grind. I mean, Danielle is a competitor and I knew it was going to be a match from the start.

I did not start off well, but obviously that hole-out bunker shot on hole 4 really kind of got me back on my feet. And we traded birdies back and forth. She played great, I played great, and settled here on 18.

Made a great up and down. Almost left it really short in the hazard, but it stayed up. Yeah, got the job done.

Q. As well as Danielle played, as well as she putted, and as competitive and fiery as she is, what did you prove to yourself in taking down the favorite?

ALLY EWING: Yeah, I wasn't the fan favorite so I kind of used that a little bit as some motivation. Just a couple people out here maybe cheering for me, so kind of used that to fuel me, especially in the last three or four holes.

And the bit of energy that I had left, I was just prepared to give it all I got today. It's going to get me another day of playing.

Q. Tomorrow you're paired up against a player who when she is playing well is really tough to beat, larger than life also in Ariya Jutanugarn. Thoughts heading into that match?

ALLY EWING: Yeah, same thing. Everybody out here is just great, they're competitors, best in the world. I like to think of myself as that as well.

I know it'll be a great match with Ariya, and I'll go get me some food and some good sleep hopefully and go take her on tomorrow.

Q. You just drained an incredible putt on 18 to knock off Danielle Kang and make your way to the semifinals. That was a heck of a match. We'll start at the end. Walk us through the 18th hole.

ALLY EWING: Yeah, I hit an absolutely great drive under the circumstances. Had a 9-iron in which I thought I caught pretty well and was going to end up with a pretty good shot.

Obviously might have missed it just a little bit and came up short, but was able to capitalize having a chip up at the hole, and hit a good chip and I still didn't have a gimme there but I rolled it in. I knew if I gave Danielle any open door she would capitalize, as she did all day. Thankfully I rolled that putt in and sealed it.

Q. How long was the putt?

ALLY EWING: It was probably somewhere between four to five feet, something like that.

Q. Okay. Go back to the beginning. You squared the first hole but then Danielle goes 2-up through 3. We've seen how Danielle is playing this week. This is your home course. What was going through your head there early as she got the quick lead?

ALLY EWING: Yeah, I short-sided myself on 2 and 3, so just made a couple of bogeys. She'd hit good shots up there. Obviously knows her way around the golf course. I just hit a couple of misses there.

But on 4 was able to -- really tough bunker shot, to be honest. I landed it in a sizable hole that I didn't have much room really to land it. Landed on the perfect spot and just happened to go in.

That kind of settled me down, and obviously from there out it was a lot of trading back and forth of birdies.

Q. You took the exact phrase, back and forth, back and forth. I've heard a lot of people, including Butch Harmon, talk about how amazing your putting was. You were draining. Was that the key to the your success today?

ALLY EWING: Yeah, I think that's the key to match play, to be honest with you. I rely a lot on my ball striking, but you've got to be able to putt in match play.

Danielle is a great putter. She's a clutch putter. We saw that several times today. Thank goodness I was able to match her several times and close it out.

Q. You closed it out on 18. You needed 19 this morning. This is a lot of golf, 37 holes in this heat. Think back to this morning in the match with Jenny that needed 19 holes. What did you take from that that you brought to this afternoon?

ALLY EWING: Yeah, a lot of good golf there, too. I had a feeling that I was going to need to step it up though a little bit more just knowing Danielle and her competitive side. I hit some good shots, as you said, made a lot of putts, a lot of birdies.

I don't know how many combined under-par holes we had between the two of us. It certainly was a lot. Yeah, I just tried to keep rolling. Got off my feet after I finished the 19th hole with Jenny and kind of really short warmup and was able to get it together after the first few holes.

Q. Friday you were standing on the 17th tee and the odds of making it to the weekend were not in your favor at that point. Here you are in Sunday play. Does that say something about your ability down the stretch in matches? You stood on 18 this morning as well then.

ALLY EWING: Yeah, I've always thought myself to be a very gritty, competitive person. My husband knows it really well. My friends know it really well. If it's the simplest things I want to win. I certainly bring that to the golf course as well.

And, yeah, I came down the stretch needing to do something really big and I proved a lot to myself and I did those things.

So, yeah, tomorrow is a new day, new circumstances, but hopefully I can take the good play in there.

Q. And does it make it sweeter knowing Pat Hurst was watching you every day?

ALLY EWING: Yeah, I mean, I feel really calm having like Pat around. Yesterday I know I said leading up the first Solheim having Juli around freaked me out, I got nervous. But playing my first Solheim and having Pat as an assistant captain I feel a little bit more settled.

I'm not thinking about her watching, but it certainly doesn't hurt for her to see good play from me.

Q. What's the biggest difference in your play from that Solheim Cup to now?

ALLY EWING: I think I've just gained a whole lot of confidence in my game. A win last year playing Solheim, I think I've just gained confidence through the years. I've certainly trusted my training through the years with my coaches, friends, family, so much support telling me that I have the ability.

But actually getting everything to come together is the hardest part in golf. You can drive it great, one day you can have poor ball striking. It's just getting it all to come together at the right time. I've certainly gained confidence through certain areas of good play in a win, playing Solheim, and, yeah, just try to keep that confidence, and no matter what the circumstances are, just trying to feed myself with positivity.

Q. That win was a matchup with Danielle at the Drive On Championship.

ALLY EWING: Yeah.

Q. Did that reminiscent of that at all?

ALLY EWING: Oh, for sure. I mean, I know Danielle is a competitor. Playing on the same team with her even she can be intimidating for sure. So I just tried to stay within my own lane, my own zone, do what I needed to do. Yeah, I did that.

Q. You mentioned your competitive about the simplest things. What are some of those things?

ALLY EWING: I mean, anything. I really can't name anything. My husband is standing right over there so he can probably tell you the little things we're competitive about. It really could be anything.

I certainly will never win a food eating contest, who can eat food the fastest with him. I'll take the L on that every time.

Q. Tomorrow you're going to have Ariya Jutanugarn. She took a 5&4 win over Minjee Lee. How did you think you match up against her game?

ALLY EWING: Yeah, best in the world. You're going to match up -- every player is the same but different. They're all heck of a player. They're all going to give you something different.

But it's all going to be great golf no matter what. So I know Ariya will present another challenge tomorrow. The key for me is to get some rest, food, get a good night's sleep, and try to go do it all again tomorrow.