KROGER QUEEN CITY CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY P&G

September 5, 2023

Ally Ewing

Kenwood Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: All right, I'm here about Ally Ewing, 2022 Kroger Queen City Championship champion. How does it feel to be back in Cincinnati here?

ALLY EWING: Yeah, feels really good. I was here probably, what, a month and a half ago for media day, so trying to bring back all the good vibes. Nice to be in Cincinnati.

And we got some good heat here this week, so maybe that heat translates on the golf course.

Q. Absolutely. And you secured your third LPGA Tour victory last year. What are some of those memories? Just take us back to that day and what you remember most about it.

ALLY EWING: Yeah, specifically I remember a very slow start, and then I think I put together a string of five birdies on the back nine. I remember the four-footer I think I had to make on 18 after Janet rolled in like a 20-footer, so, you know, kind of put the pressure on.

I remember my husband surprising me, drove in. So a lot of great memories. It's good to be back at Kenwood. Haven't seen the golf course yet, but I'm sure it's in great shape.

Q. You've had an exciting year thus far with no sign of slowing down. Picked by Stacy Lewis to represent the U.S. in the Solheim Cup. Can you just walk us through some of those conversations before and after.

ALLY EWING: Yeah, I think regardless of how you feel like you're playing, I was not able to sneak in to solidify my spot through ranking or points, so there is still just a bit of uneasiness. You hope your golf and resume can speak for itself. I'm very thankful and happy that Stacy saw me and trusted me to be a captain's pick.

I'm super excited for Spain. Feel like my golf game has been trending in a really good direction, so I think all things considered, I'm really happy to be here at Kenwood to hopefully put on a good title defense and take some good golf to Spain and get the Cup back in the U.S.'s hands.

Q. After your past two Solheim Cup experiences, what are you hoping to bring into this year's?

ALLY EWING: Yeah, I know my first year for sure in Scotland, not really sure what was going to happen. I went as an alternate.

And then also as a youngster, a rookie on the team. I feel like I can step into a little bit more of a role of lending a hand to the rookies and giving them some insight not just on the golf course, but what the week is going to look like as well as just hope to be a good voice.

Hope to bring some good energy into the team room, because that's where it starts for sure us is in the team room. Hopefully the good golf comes as well.

Q. Some really consistent golf this year with four Top 10s, additional top 25s. What are you hoping to see in your game this week?

ALLY EWING: Yeah, like I said, just a good title defense. I know the worst thing you can do -- being in this position before, the worst thing you can do is kind of lean on your expectations for last year. This year is a completely new year. While I have good memories, if I compare last year it'll only hinder my performance. It's kind of a blank slate for me.

I'll lean on those memories as good things, but I'm not going to put any like high expectation or just set the standard at winning. That's what we tee it up hoping to do and setting the mark for when we want to do, but I'm going to show up and try to put together -- start out with two really consistent rounds and hopefully play two more over the weekend if given the opportunity.

So that's kind of where my head is at. And like I said, I do feel confident, I feel like I'm playing some really solid golf.

It's just going to be my same mentality: Good process, one hole at a time, and see where it all shakes out.

Q. I want to know what you remember about the golf course last year? I know it was really wet.

ALLY EWING: Yeah.

Q. Obviously it's looking really dry now. How do you adjust to that? What do you remember about the golf course specifically that maybe suited you?

ALLY EWING: Yeah, specifically I just remember, like you said, it was really wet. We got a ton of rain Monday through Wednesday and the maintenance crew, I remember them doing an incredible job to have the golf course even remotely close to tournament ready and beyond.

It played super soft. It was kind of -- I don't remember if it was specifically like you could just pitch it, throw it at the hole and it would stop, but I do foresee more release this year. I don't think it's necessarily firm according to my caddie just yet, but golf courses can change from Tuesday to Sunday.

I do remember a very damp golf course.

Q. Last week your final round performance was amazing. Obviously great momentum going into this week. I wanted to ask, you played against Emily Kristine Pedersen that day. Any Solheim banter? You guys were making a lot of birdies out there.

ALLY EWING: No banter, just like what date are you going over there. We both are playing this week. Just good conversation.

And then the switches will flip when it's Solheim week.

I think it's a great competition, the Solheim Cup. The atmosphere is incredible. I think we all are going in as competitors, but at the same time, we respect each other because we do compete against each other on a week-to-week basis.

All the Europeans are competitors, but they're also people that we respect as golfers and people, so it'll be a good competition and I'm sure it'll be intense.

The U.S. will not be getting a lot of cheers in Spain, but hopefully we can bring over a decent crowd.

Q. Some pretty cool announcement videos. What did you think of when you saw those celebrities cheering on announcing Team USA?

ALLY EWING: Yeah, it was awesome. Really cool that they were able to put that together. I don't know who all had a hand in it, but it was really awesome.

I was sitting next to Cheyenne when the announcement came on and she definitely almost cried when Nick Saban popped up. It was a really cool just put together for Team USA for sure.

Q. While we're talking about Solheim, could you talk about how Stacy's approach as a captain has been different? She has talked about wanting to leave a last impact and change Solheim for the better. What's been her style? What she's been like so far?

ALLY EWING: Yeah, she's been great. I think she's bringing a little bit of a fresh perspective obviously still as someone that plays a lot of golf. She knows the needs of players, the things that really need to be taken off our plate that week with so much going on.

And then she's using a lot of her insights with KPMG to kind of sort through pairings.

So as a whole, she's got a ton of energy. She's excited to be a captain. She is someone with a ton of recent playing experience as well. I had two previous captains that were awesome as well in Juli and Pat. Stacy has that little bit of a fresh perspective on things.

So I think she's doing an incredible job. I think that starts with her leadership, and she's going to bring a lot of good, positive energy, and like I said, fresh perspective.

Q. You posted a dd few weeks ago after AIG that you felt like you would learn from that experience, grow as a player, and be better prepared next time. Curious how that experience influenced you as a player and how that might help you over the remaining part of the season?

ALLY EWING: Yeah, I think there is -- for me, there is one thing to put together really good golf, and then it's another thing to put together two really good rounds and you're kind of feel like you're outrunning the field in some form or fashion.

So that was an unfamiliar -- whereas I had been in this position before in leading an LPGA event, I kind of fell into it's my tournament to lose; I'm supposed to win this event. That's not where you can perform your best golf.

And just full transparency and honesty, I never got ahead of myself, but I probably did tee off on Saturday knowing that I did have such a lead.

But a major championship is something that I've wanted to win, something that I want to be in contention for. I found myself in contention for a couple majors this year, and I know the more that I'm there the more comfortable I'm going to be.

So I think as players, we use this to learn. Hopefully next year we get opportunity to tee it up for a major again.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you so much, Ally.

ALLY EWING: Yep. Thank you all.