Ally Ewing Remains At Top After Dominant 66 On Friday At AIG Women’s Open

It was a dominant performance from LPGA Tour winner Ally Ewing on Friday at the AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath Golf Club as the American blitzed the field with a 6-under 66 to hold just the second 36-hole lead/co-lead of her LPGA Tour career. The Mississippi native led the major championship by one shot on Thursday after carding a 4-under 68 in round one and extended her advantage to five in round two, making one bogey and seven birdies to tie her lowest round of the 2023 LPGA Tour season as well as her lowest round in the AIG Women’s Open.

The 30-year-old got off to a quiet start, grabbing one birdie in her first five holes on the par-4, 3rd hole, but she turned on the gas late in her front nine, making four consecutive birdies on holes 6, 7, 8 and 9 to turn in 30 and get to 9-under overall. Ewing struck again on No. 11, birdieing her second par 5 of the day, and found another birdie on the par-5 16th hole to move to 11-under. A closing bogey on 18 dropped her back to 10-under, but the 66 was good enough to give Ewing the second-round lead as well as the third major championship lead/co-lead of her LPGA Tour career.

“I left myself in good position off the tee for most of the day except for 18, and I was able to hit really good iron shots into the greens, give myself a lot of looks, which you can have looks but you’ve got to be able to capitalize on them and I rolled them in,” said Ewing, who before yesterday had only led one other time in a major having held the first-round lead at the 2019 Chevron Championship. “I rolled in some breaking putts, which I feel like that’s always a confidence boost to match up the line and speed. I didn’t even know until I signed my scorecard that I had four birdies in a row so that stretch from like 6 to 11 is kind of a little bit of a blur.”

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A LOOK AT THE LEADER

Rolex Rankings No. 39 Ally Ewing

• Ewing hit 9 of 15 fairways and 16 of 18 greens with 30 putts during the second round
  • Her 6-under 66 was the lowest round of the day on Friday
  • She made seven birdies during the second round, including four in a row on holes 6-9
    • Her other birdies came on Nos. 3, 11 and 16
  • Her front nine 30 (-5) is two strokes better than any other player in the field has scored over the first two rounds
  • Ewing has been under-par for both the front nine and the back nine in both of her rounds so far
  • Ewing’s lead of five strokes ties the largest lead after 36 holes in AIG Women’s Open history (records held since 1995), previously achieved by Emilee Klein at Woburn-Dukes in 1996 and Jiyai Shin at Royal Liverpool in 2012
    • Both of those players went on to win in those years and no-one has ever failed to win after building a lead of more than three strokes after two rounds
    • The last woman to lead any major by 5+ shots through 36 holes and not win was Patty Sheehan at the 1990 U.S. Women’s Open (led by 6)
  • She went bogey free for 21 straight holes before making bogey on No. 18 on Friday
  • She is first in the field in birdies or better with 13 total (one eagle, 12 birdies)
• This is the second time Ewing has held an 36-hole lead or co-lead in her LPGA career
  • Her 5-stroke lead is the largest second-round lead of the 2023 season, beating Brooke Henderson’s 4-stroke 36-hole lead at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions
  • Her two-day score of 134 is her lowest 36-hole score of the season and ties her second-lowest 36-hole score of her LPGA Tour career
    • She has shot a 133, her lowest 36-hole scored, on six occasions and a 134 on five previous occasions
  • The last time she held a second-round lead at the LPGA Drive On Championship Lake Oconee, which she won
• Ewing also held the first-round lead after shooting a 4-under 68 on Thursday
  • The last time she held a first-round lead was also at a major championship, The 2019 Chevron Championship, where she finished T6
• This is her fifth start in an LPGA Tour major this season
  • Her second-round 66 is her lowest 18-hole score in a 2023 LPGA Tour major and ties her lowest 18-hole score this season
    • She also shot a 66 during the final round of last week’s FREED GROUP Women’s Scottish Open presented by Trust Golf
  • Her opening 68 on Thursday was her second-lowest first-round score in a 2023 major after an opening 67 at the Amundi Evian Championship, where she missed the cut
  • Her best major finish this season is a solo 11^th place result at the U.S. Women’s Open
  • She finished T23 at The Chevron Championship and missed the cut at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
• This is Ewing’s seventh appearance at the AIG Women’s Open
  • Her best finish in the event is a T16 result, which she earned in her AIG Women’s Open debut in 2017
  • She has missed the cut just once (2021) in her six previous playings
  • She has four top-28 appearances at the event
  • She finished T51 in 2022
• Ewing’s best finish in any LPGA major is a T6 result at The 2019 Chevron Championship
  • She has three career top-10s in 35 starts in major championships
• This is Ewing’s eighth season on the LPGA Tour
  • She has made the cut in nine of her 13 starts this season
  • She has earned three top-10 finishes this year with a season-best result of T5 at the LPGA Drive On Championship
• Ewing played in both the 2019 and 2021 Solheim Cup, representing the U.S. Team

THINGS TO KNOW

• Seventy-three players made the cut at +2
  • There are 17 major champions that made the cut on Friday
  • Of the ten past AIG Women’s Open champions in the field, only three made the cut
    • Jiyai Shin is the best potioned of the past champions, sitting at -2 and T18
    • Anna Nordqvist is +1 while Englishwoman Georgia Hall made the cut on the number at +2
    • Defending champion Ashleigh Buhai finished +3, just outside of the cutline
  • Two amateurs, Julia Lopez Ramirez and England’s Charlotte Heath, made the cut and have a chance to earn the Smyth Salver award given to the low amateur
• Three players are in a tie for second at 139 after the second round
  • England’s Charley Hull shot a bogey-free 68 on Friday
    • She is one of four players to go bogey free in the second-round along with Alison Lee, Jin Young Ko and Ryann O’Toole
      • No player went bogey free during the first round
    • Hull is tied for second in the field in bogeys or worse, with just three made during two rounds
    • Hailing from nearby Woburn, England, Hull is familiar with Walton Heath and has played the course before
  • Andrea Lee shot -4 with five birdies and one bogey on Friday
    • This is her fourth appearance at the AIG Women’s Open
      • Her best finish was a T7 result in her debut at the major in 2020
    • She has played in all five LPGA Tour players this season
      • She made the cut in two of four majors this season
      • Her best 2023 major finish is a T20 result at the U.S. Women’s Open
    • Lee became a Rolex First Time winner at the 2022 Portland Classic, her only win on Tour
  • LPGA Tour Rookie Minami Katsu had four birdies and one bogey during her second round
    • She is an eight-time winner on the JLPGA
    • This is her third appearance in the AIG Women’s Open
      • Her best finish is a T35 result in her debut at the event in 2019
    • The AIG Women’s Open is her fourth major appearance this season
      • She has not finished in the top-50 at major championship this year
    • She has one top-10 finish this season
    • She is sixth in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year standings
• There are four players at -4 and T5 after the second-round, including 2023 The Chevron Champion winner Lilia Vu
  • Vu has the least amount of bogeys or worse in the field with just two, one made each day of play
  • Vu has a chance to clinch the Rolex Annika Major Award with a win
    • A third-place finish or better is good enough for her to win the award, but depends on the result of several other players
• Both the par-4 No. 2 and par-4 13th played as the hardest during round two, each with a 4.329 scoring average
  • Only six birdies were made on No. 2 that hole on Thursday, with 48 bogeys or worse
  • Just eight birdies were made on 13 and 51 bogeys or worse
• This week’s Aon Risk Reward Challenge hole, the par-5 16th, played the easiest with a 4.32 scoring average
  • Five eagles were made there on Friday and 90 birdies
  • Thirteen eagles were made there on Thursday and 77 birdies

QUOTABLE
“I think you can’t really suppress it. Like I’m going to know where I’m at obviously at the end of the day but mentally you have to be ready to regroup, because the past is the past. Like nothing that I’ve done through 36 holes can do anything for me for the next 36, so I’m just going to be mentally prepared for each individual day that presents itself. Each shot is going to be different.” – Ally Ewing on what she’s thinking about the leaderboard and maintaining her five-stroke lead

“I mean, being a Major Champion is at the top of the list for my goals in my career, and I put myself in contention this weekend, and I’m not going to try and think about it, think about the outcome or the results… Ally played phenomenal today. I did not see 7-under par, but I’m not trying to chase her, do anything out of the ordinary. Nothing special. Just trying to stick to my game plan and if I catch her, great. If I don’t, you know, at least I have a chance.” – Andrea Lee on her striving for her best performance in an LPGA major this season

“I feel like post-Chevron Championship, I’ve been struggling a little bit, and to finally, hopefully, be in contention by the end of today, it just feels really rewarding. I felt like I’ve had a hard couple of months just with everything and dealing with just my expectations of myself, so it’s nice to be in contention.” – Lilia Vu on her game since her major victory at The Chevron Championship earlier this year

NOTABLE

Second Round Highlights | 2023 AIG Women’s Open

LPGA Now | 2023 AIG Women’s Open Round 2

Andrea Lee Leaps Into Top Five Through Two Rounds At Walton Heath GC

Two-Time 2023 Winner Lilia Vu In The Mix At AIG Women’s Open

Hull Hustles Into Top Five At AIG Women’s Open

The R&A and AIG Extend AIG Women’s Open Partnership Through 2030

TOURNAMENT SCORING RECORDS (since becoming a major in 2001)

18 holes – 62, Minea Blomqvist, third round, 2004; Mirim Lee, first round, 2016

36 holes – 133, Caroline Masson, 2011; Mirim Lee, 2016; In-Kyung Kim, 2017

54 holes – 199, In-Kyung Kim, 2017; Ashleigh Buhai, 2022

72 holes – 269, Karen Stupples, 2004