Even the best putters don’t make everything. But Tour winners make the ones they should, at least the ones people think a pro should make most of the time; the ones where you can almost see the hole in your peripheral vision; the ones that take no more than a couple of steps to reach after you knock them in; the ones where, despite comments like, “there’s still some work left with that one,” missing them is more surprising than seeing them fall.
Ally Ewing knew she should be making more, not from 20 feet, or 30 feet, or even 15 feet, but from 5 to 10 feet, that distance where you have to pay attention, but you feel you should make a lot more than you miss.
Throughout the 2022 season, despite hitting more greens in regulation than anyone on the LPGA Tour, a percentage that would, in fact, lead that stat on the PGA Tour, Ewing has, until this week, only made 50.2% of her putts from 5 to 10 feet. That ranks 125th on the LPGA Tour from that range. And it is one of the main reasons Ewing has been averaging 32 putts per round, the kind of number that has led to no top-10 finishes so far this season.
“You have to get under 30,” Judy Rankin said of the number of putts per round a Tour pro needs. “Then if you have a good ball-striking day, you can put up a pretty good number.”
Ewing figured that out this week at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G. A quick session with her coaches at Old Waverly before heading to Cincinnati gave her clarity. Seeing a few putts fall gave her confidence.
“I lost confidence throughout the year,” Ewing said. “Just seeing putts go in and being a confident putter, that's kind of where I'm at mentally. And I’m going to approach tomorrow with the same mindset.”
On Saturday, she went four-for-four from 5 to 10 feet in route to a 5-under 67, a -16 total and a one-shot lead with one round to play. Three of those putts were for birdie, and one was a stellar up-and-down par from the bunker on 17. “It was so great to go up to that bunker shot (on 17) and just know that she was going to get it up and down,” Ewing’s caddie Dan Chapman said after the round.
That confidence came from knowing that she didn’t have to stick it to a foot. Knowing you can make putts frees up the rest of your game.
“I've been so confident in my swing this year,” she said. “I've struck it great. I've been driving it great. For me, the putting is just -- you know, I've seen some putts go in. Not all putts are going to go in. But it certainly is great these first three days to see some of the mental aspects of trying to get the stroke in a better tempo, and then just seeing putts go in and being a confident putter.”
To quantify those good feels, Ewing had 27 putts on Thursday, 25 on Friday and 29 on Saturday, all within Rankin’s “under 30” criteria. She also went 11 for 13 from 5 to 10 feet through three rounds. That’s an 84.6% conversion rate, or as most people would say, “almost all.”
“I've had my ups and downs this year,” Ewing said. “I’m just kind of mentally trying to gain that confidence back in every aspect, whether it's playing solid, putting a score together, and rolling in putts. The last few weeks I've just really prepared mentally as well as physically for being in this position, knowing that I'm more than capable of being here.
“I've proven it. Obviously, I've put some good scores together to put myself in a good position. But tomorrow is going to be a new day. There are new challenges.
“But I can't be anything but excited for what I've done the first three days.”
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