U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

June 1, 2021

Ally Ewing

The Olympic Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome back. We're joined by Ally Ewing, our match play, LPGA Match Play champion. Walk us through the last few days.

ALLY EWING: Obviously a busy week last week. Yesterday I probably shouldn't have been out here at all, but I still managed to just walk nine holes and just take a look.

I didn't hit any full shots or anything like that. Moved my tee time to this afternoon instead of the morning, so some adjustments. I think, for me personally, this week's going to be important to make sure I'm well rested by Thursday rather than maybe necessarily seeing the course as many times as I normally do prior to a U.S. Open.

I'm just going to find a good mixture of those.

Q. The U.S. Open week is different than other weeks. Talk about your preparation and kind of your excitement for what's ahead this week.

ALLY EWING: U.S. Open is every year it's just the premier event for me. It's our National Championship, so I always have a very excited feel at a U.S. Open. Certainly coming off a victory, I've never experienced that at a U.S. Open before.

A long week before that, definitely haven't. Monday to Wednesday at a U.S. Open is normally very full with preparation. This year I'm taking it a little bit differently because I think, for me, like I said, it's just going to be more important to be rested by Thursday.

It's a hilly course, so it's going to be a grind mentally and physically. I'll just be ready Thursday. See what kind of prep I get in today and tomorrow and be ready to go.

Q. Is there any mental hurdle associated with starting on 9 instead of starting on 10 with the two-tee setup?

ALLY EWING: I don't think so. It seems like you're going to play them all, so whatever hole it is. We've done a par-3 start on our Tour before, a par-3 finish.

So you just kind of what the setup is is what the setup is, and it's the most convenient way to get here from the clubhouse. A nine-tee start is obviously a little unique, but I don't think it's going to be a very big mental hurdle.

Q. Have you ever started on a hole other than 10 or --

ALLY EWING: Yeah, actually my freshman year at our SEC tournament we started on like hole 12 or 13 at the Blessings for an alternate tee start.

That's probably one of the only other tournaments that I've done that. I know Wilshire, they change up what typically is hole 10, which is our finishing hole, No. 18.

So, yeah, it's certainly not a unique -- a very unique thing to start on a different hole, but it will be fun this week.

Q. Have you ever played Olympic before? Have you been here before? What's your experience with golf in the San Francisco area?

ALLY EWING: I have not played Olympic Club before. Obviously, we play the MediHeal at Merced, so maybe not super familiar with Olympic Club.

My caddie, Dan Chapman, has been very familiar with the San Francisco area, has caddied a lot at SF Club, actually started out here at Olympic Club, so I feel very solid knowing he has some course knowledge out here for sure.

Q. Going back to last week and coming off the win, you played over 120 holes. Talking about your recovery a little bit, like what exactly is your process? What are you doing? Obviously getting rest and hydrating, but what kind of steps are you taking to kind of get back into it?

ALLY EWING: I think mentally kind of recharging -- I texted my caddie because I was going to be here at a certain time today. I texted him, like I'm going to be a little bit later. I slept later than I thought I would, to be honest.

For me personally, I'm just going to see 1 through 8 today. Tomorrow I'm going to see 9 through 18, and we'll have a game plan no matter what. I'm just going to rely heavily that my game is in the proper form to play a U.S. Open.

Every U.S. Open is about hitting fairways, hitting greens, and making some putts. You're certainly going to be tested if you miss fairways here, so we'll just get some good targets and trust heavily on the preparation that I did leading up to here and ride the momentum from last week.

Q. Do you have any advice for people who -- like average golfers who maybe go out and play 36 holes in a weekend or whatever and trying to get their bodies back on?

ALLY EWING: Yeah. I'd probably say hydrate properly. The average golfer, I'm sure a lot of golfers go out and play like a heavy weekend format with -- you know, we've got some avid golfers in the U.S. and around the world.

I'd probably say walking into an office setting on Monday might be a little bit different than walking into a major championship week, but hydration and adequate sleep, letting your mind mentally go into a place of rest rather than being overwhelmed with a major championship and what this week means to a lot of us.

I'm just kind of going to put that to the side and be sure that I'm ready by Thursday.

Q. Have you played some holes yet or no?

ALLY EWING: I have not. I'll play -- I've got a tee time at 1:40 today. I walked 9 through 18 yesterday, which I got out and I just kind of walked, and I had a wedge and putter. Even I got to a few greens and I was just like, Okay, I'm just going to look and watch other people chip and putt.

Yeah, rest is going to be a huge component for me by Thursday. I got lots of sleep last night, which was good, and hopefully I'll get a really good night's rest tonight again.

Q. What was your takeaway from watching other folks play it?

ALLY EWING: The rough is going to be brutal, even to the point where you're going to get some lies out there where you may be hitting like a 30-yard wedge shot just out into the fairway, I think, rather than trying to advance it all the way up.

I think our goal is going to be, if we get in the rough, the number one thing is to not be in the rough again on that hole. I think hitting fairways, which is not going to be an easy task, you've got a lot of slope in these fairways. The firmness, I think is going to be a component right now. It seems like it's a little soft, which is going to make hitting the fairways a smidge easier, but it's still going to take a lot of precision out here.

Q. Who's here with you this week?

ALLY EWING: Caddie Dan is here, my husband is here, but caddying for a Mississippi State player in the field, Abbey Daniel. We're actually going to be separated. One off, and then she'll be behind me. Really fun to have a Mississippi State player in the field, so it will be a fun week.