It has been three weeks since Ally McDonald became a Rolex First-Time Winner at the LPGA Drive On Championship—Reynolds Lake Oconee. Securing victory on her 28th birthday, McDonald shared the moment with her mom and dad at the Great Waters Course with friends and competitors harmoniously singing “Happy Birthday” after she signed the winning scorecard.
Following the drive home that night, she was greeted to a hearty congratulations by family but has been pretty low-key celebrations for the newest LPGA Tour champion since.
“I think the three weeks were really good for me to be able to take care of the media stuff, which comes with it. It's great,” said McDonald. “Then I had another couple weeks, which allowed me to get back into prep mode for our last few events of the year and enjoy some time at home with family and husband. So yeah, I'm obviously still excited about everything, but I've kind of come down off the high and now am just trying to get back into my competition mode.”
Since winning, McDonald said she feels a bit more confident when it comes to being in contention and knowing she can bring home a title. In addition to her win in Georgia, she’s recorded seven other top-25 finishes in 11 starts this season and hopes to add to her stellar 2020 resume at the Pelican Women’s Championship presented by DEX Imaging and Konica Minolta.
“I think this golf course is going to require good approach shots. There are some holes with water, so it's just going to be the type of golf course where strategy I think is really important, which is a strong part of my game, just being able to mentally look away from pins if I need to,” said McDonald. “In prep for this week, I was trying to make sure that I did all the things necessary to be fundamentally sound and to prepare like I would for any other event. I’ve already played 18 holes, will play nine holes in the Pro-Am, and I'll tee it up on Thursday trying to play my best and see where that gets me.”
McDonald heads off No. 1 tee on Thursday with major champions Jin Young Ko and Sophia Popov at 11:48 a.m. ET.
)
)
)
)
