ORLANDO, Fla. — Three-time LPGA Tour winner Ally Ewing is hanging around the top of the leaderboard through 54 holes at the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. After opening with a 4-under 68 on Thursday and grinding out an even-par 72 on Friday, the 31-year-old fired another near-perfect 68 on Moving Day, making one bogey and five birdies to sit at 8-under overall with 18 holes to go at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club.
The front nine saw Ewing start slow, making eight pars and one birdie on the par-4 3rd hole to turn in 35, but the Mississippi native then put the pedal down on the back nine. After parring No. 10, Ewing picked up a birdie on the par-5 11th hole to move to 6-under overall with seven holes to play, making pars on holes 12 and 13 before striking again with a birdie on No. 14. She then backed that up with a birdie on the par-5 15th hole, an effort she erased with a bogey No. 16.
Ewing righted the ship with a par on 17 and then made a rare birdie on the challenging par-4 18th hole to post at 8-under overall and sit four back of the lead entering the final round. While she didn’t enter this week at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions with incredibly high expectations, Ewing is pleased to be in contention in the first event of the 2024 season and hopes to continue riding the momentum she’s found in the first three rounds as she works towards a fourth LPGA Tour victory on Sunday in Orlando, Fla.
“(This week has) been really good. I would say somewhat low expectations for the week just being the first week out,” said Ewing. “Some rust still showing up here and there. To be in at 8-under through three rounds, yesterday that finish was really tough, so to see some birdies, and I gave one away on 16, but (it was) just kind of a patience game on the front nine. I was hitting good shots. They started falling on the back nine and got in with a 68, so really happy.”
This is Ewing’s fourth appearance in the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, and she qualified for this week’s field based on her one-shot victory at the 2022 Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G. In her three previous starts in this event, she has never finished better than a tie for 15th, doing so in 2021 when the Tournament of Champions was held at the Tranquilo Course at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
While every player wants to win in their first start of the year, the eight-year LPGA Tour veteran knows better than most that a solid finish in a season-opener can do wonders for a player’s early-season trajectory. So, with that in mind, Ewing is hoping to glean as many positives as she can from a Sunday spent in contention at Lake Nona. And even if she doesn’t wind up holding the trophy, Ewing is primed to walk away from the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions pleased with herself having started the 2024 season off on the right foot.
“I think this is my eighth year on the LPGA, and (I’m) just wanting to compete and test myself each week,” said Ewing, who is sitting within five of the lead entering the final round for the 14th time in her career. “I think the more times that I can be in contention, the more comfortable (I) get, so to start the year off with good play through three rounds, I think that's the main key for me this year.
“The more times I can find myself on a Sunday with a chance to win a golf tournament, I've looked back in my career, and I feel like when I've had a legitimate chance on Sunday, I've been able to close. Obviously, we all have times that we haven't. The more times that I feel like I can give myself a chance, percentage-wise it should give you a better chance to break through.”
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