COGNIZANT FOUNDERS CUP

May 13, 2022

Ally Ewing

Upper Montclair Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Here with ally Ewing. Season best 66 today. Had quite few birdies on card, just one blip. Take me through your round out there.

ALLY EWING: Yeah, really, really great start. I hit a great tee shot -- I hit a 3-wood off 10 tee and hit it in to probably two feet, so had a pretty easy birdie on the first.

And then 11 I made a good I think 10-footer.

And then 12 I had a pretty simple two-putt birdie.

So it was a nice kind of calm start. Kind of hit just a stretch where I couldn't get anything to really roll in but I still hit a lot of really good shots, and then towards the end of the round, you know, collected a couple more.

So it was a pretty consistent day, and I just -- I'm really just excited with my ball striking, because that's what I been working towards, is like really getting that back on and how I feel like I should be hitting it.

Q. Take me through some of the stretches where you had a few back to back there. What was going through the mind?

ALLY EWING: Yeah, I feel like I said yesterday, like I didn't really have an expectation of like what this course would yield, but I feel like when you get scoring opportunities and you're able to capitalize, it's big momentum and can really generate confidence for me.

To be able to get to those scoring holes and hit really good quality wedge shots and make birdies on par-5s, that generates confidence.

I was able to have a couple of -- I think I had three in a row to start. Par'd and birdied 14, so I felt really settled in the really early, which is a good feeling.

And then was able to make a couple more on my back nine, which was solid.

Q. What's been more key for you ball striking-wise, tee shots or more approaches?

ALLY EWING: I would probably say approach shots, but this course does require a lot of accuracy off the tee; some really tight fairways.

So obviously it started with good drives in the fairway that have set me up for the opportunity to score with approach shots, but I've just really -- I feel like my -- I've been able to dial in where I want to pitch the ball, and a lot of opportunities hole-high, if they're not just like right at the pin.

So that's kind of where I've been keying in on everything.

Q. These greens have a lot of undulations in them. There are a couple holes that have these little speed slots. Like if you hit them it goes hard.

ALLY EWING: Yeah.

Q. How have you adjusted with those approach shots? Have you been playing quadrants of greens, going more at flags?

ALLY EWING: Yeah, a few of those holes, I think of 3 in particular, and that was a back pin today, so I took 3-wood off the tee and didn't hit it great, so I kind of had a longer iron in than I wanted to.

But that hole in particular, you take what the hole gives you. I had like 176 to the hole and I was like, you know what? If I have 40 feet on this I'm looking left, I'm looking short, just kind of the fat of the green.

Yeah, it does. I think requires really good strategy and patience, and also the discipline to look away from some pins occasionally.

Q. Heading into the weekend you haven't got off to the fastest start this season so far. You're in contention, in the mix, only three back, two days left to play. What are you carrying with you with those two rounds left?

ALLY EWING: Yeah, I think it's just I feel like in years past I've kind of been slow to get going, so I've kind of just like really be patient, trust the process of everything that I been doing, and really trust that my resume speaks for itself and that I can -- if I start doubting myself because I've been slow to start, I can really look back and be like, I've been slow to start but I've still produced some really good tournaments mid-year, end of the year, stuff like that.

I've just kind of hung on to that, and getting out to a really good start that week is exciting for me. It's exciting to see that my game has been trending, and just overall I'm just looking forward to the weekend and hopefully I can keep producing the same results.

Q. How validating is that season-low round?

ALLY EWING: Yeah, it's great. I think for me making birdies is big, but I eliminated a couple mistakes today. I had more under-par holes yesterday, but I eliminated those bogeys today; I only had one.

So it's a really good feeling for sure. I know the weekend is going to -- it's going to produce adversity, it produces some pressure, and I'm fully aware of that.

But it's always one day at a time, one shot at a time, and I've done what I can do through two rounds. Tomorrow I'll tee it up with the same mentality.

Q. With your great wedge shots into these greens, did you feel like you left a few birdie putts out there? You did go 6-under today, but there was still that came up just short.

ALLY EWING: Yeah, I would probably say I missed a few putts that I could have made, but not necessarily that you say I'm going to make it ten out of ten or even eight out of ten, something like that.

What I'm trying to build off from a putting standpoint is if I feel like I'm hitting good putts then I'm doing my job, because not every putt is going to go in.

So just making some putts and seeing putts go in, I can build confidence off that and know that if the putter gets really, really hot, maybe I make a few more.

Q. And then just final question from me on a personal note. Pretty good week in the Ewing family. Sounds like the team has qualified for Nationals. Tell me about that.

ALLY EWING: Yeah, it's really exciting. My husband, Charlie, his first full year -- he did half a season in 2021, the last half. So first full year the girls have kind of -- they've put together some good golf this year, so I knew they had the capability 100% to make it to Nationals.

They played some solid golf, and we'll get to tee it up for the National Championship at Grayhawk, and I'll get to go support, which I'm really excited about.

It's not very far from where we're going to be in Vegas the next week. Yeah, it's exciting. It's also my caddie's birthday today, so I thought, why not play some good golf for him, too.

Q. Yeah, I have one. I will be the third person to mention your really good start today. I'm just curious what you did yesterday to prepare for that. Did you relax after the morning round or work on some stuff?

ALLY EWING: Absolutely I relaxed. This is going to be 100% travel problems, but I opened up my suitcase to head here and the wheel like caved in. So I went and looked at suitcases, and I'm going to probably go back and find a suitcase, because I don't think the one that I have is going to make it on the trip back home.

But I did that, and then I just hung out and then I came back for the Pioneer Dinner for a little while last night, show appreciation for them.

Q. How cool was that? Obviously the Founders Cup is about honoring the past, present, and future.

ALLY EWING: Yeah.

Q. How cool was it to be there to see Gloria Aaron and Patty Sheehan honored as Pioneers?

ALLY EWING: Yeah, it's great. I think what we do with this tournament and what everybody stepped up to make sure that we're giving back to the people that paved the way for us, because we may not fully get the grasp of what they endured and what they went through for us to be here playing for the purses that we have now, so it's just very small, very minor, but to give back to them and show support, it's well what it's all about.

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