Ally Ewing pulls a Brian Harman by surging clear at AIG Women's Open in R2

America's Ally Ewing is not messing around in the final major of the year at Walton Heath.

11 Aug 2023

Ally Ewing pulls a Brian Harman by surging clear at AIG Women's Open in R2

Ally Ewing continued where she left off on Thursday by racing into a commanding five-stroke lead on day two at the AIG Women's Open.

Ewing, 30, opened brightly at Walton Heath in the first round with a 4-under par 68 and then took it even lower in the morning wave on Friday to surge to 10-under par for the championship.

As it stands, Ewing enjoys a five-stroke lead, just as her American compatriot Brian Harman did after 36 holes at The Open Championship three weeks ago at Royal Liverpool

Harman went on to etch his name on the famous Claret Jug by six strokes in the end.

Ewing was asked by one reporter after her round whether she is going to take any inspiration from what Harman did at The Open given the situation she currently faces herself in at Walton Heath.

"Yeah, questionable, he's a Bulldog but he's a Georgia bulldog. I'm a Bulldog; I'm a Mississippi State Bulldog. I guess we have that in common," said Ewing.

"But yeah, it's pretty cool, southern guy, I'm southern, just a little Mississippi girl. It is inspiring what he did.

"You know, I think a lot of people, I wouldn't say they were rooting against him but a lot of people were rooting for other people. I can kind of attest to that in some sense but yeah, certainly happy with where I am through 36 holes."

Starting the second round with a one stroke lead, Ewing opened with her first birdie of the day at the par-4 3rd before she rattled home four birdies in a row from the 6th.

She then turned for home and made birdies at both of the par-5s on 11 and 16, but would hand one back at 18.

Nevertheless, it all added up to a 6-under 66 to give her a commanding five-stroke lead thru 36 holes at 10-under par.

Will Ally Ewing win the AIG Women's Open?
— GolfMagic (@GolfMagic) August 11, 2023

England's Charley Hull has taken it low in the second round, too, and she has moved into contention in a tie for second on 5-under par.

Keep up to date with all the latest scores, live blog and video content from the AIG Women's Open

Who is Ally Ewing?

Ewing, originally called Macdonald before she married her husband Charlie, was born in Tupelo, Mississippi.

She played college golf at Mississippi State University where she performed admirably winning five times.

Ally also won the Mississippi State Amateur twice, as well as the North and South Women's Amateur.

She then went on to play in victorious US teams at the 2013 Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship and 2014 Curtis Cup.

Ewing then turned pro after she graduated from college in 2015, and wasted little time in earning her LPGA Tour card when coming through Final Qualifying later that year.

She played a mixed schedule in 2016, primarily with events on the Symetra Tour where she finished runner-up four times leading to her finishing second on the money list.

Ewing then played a full schedule on the LPGA Tour from 2017, which remains the same story to the present day.

She spoke about having diabetes after her second round at the 2023 AIG Women's Open.

Ewing said:

"I found out right after I got my LPGA Tour card. So that's a battle of itself.

"I've actually got this device that I keep in my back pocket that I just scan every so often. And every day, I'm not one that's started using an insulin pump yet. I'm still doing shots by the mil, so that's kind of how I've gone about it."

The American added:

"It's tough. Some days are tougher than others but it's manageable. The technology and stuff has progressed a long way. It's something that I have to be aware of on a golf course, not just my golf, which you know, can sometimes be a little distracting. I deal with high blood sugar, low blood sugar on the golf course. That's why I have to stay on top of it.

"I don't feel spikes as much. The lows, I can feel pretty loopy. I can feel shaky. It honestly changes every time. Like I might not always feel like that. Sometimes I just -- I feel very fatigued all of a sudden, so it's something that I have to, you know -- I keep Gatorade in my golf bag, take six ounces or so to get it to come back up and stay on top of my snacks and stuff."