When Ally Ewing announced in September that she was retiring from professional golf at the end of the 2024 LPGA Tour season, many wondered how the 32-year-old would celebrate.

An extravagant year-end trip would have been appropriate. So would have an expensive bottle of champagne or a week’s worth of sleep after the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. But Ewing’s first idea? Get a dog. And that goal was quickly met well before her final walk at Tiburón Golf Club.

Ally and her husband Charlie recently adopted Rusty, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, also known as a Toller for short. He made the trip from Mississippi to Florida to watch his mother wrap up her LPGA Tour career at the Tour Championship last month and has definitely been keeping the Ewings on their toes lately, as puppies often do, but the couple couldn’t be more delighted to have Rusty in their life.

“He is cute. He has very sharp teeth, but he is really sweet. We love that we have him as a part of our family,” said Ewing in her pre-tournament press conference at the CME Group Tour Championship. “I did get our puppy, and it's been fun just having him around for a little over a month now.”

Rusty and Ally Ewing

Ewing shared her retirement intentions ahead of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G, news that shocked many across the golf world as Ewing had an incredible 2024 season. She earned six top-10 finishes this year, two of which were top-five results that came in major championships at the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally at Lancaster Country Club, where she tied for third, and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club, where Ewing tied for fifth.

She nearly qualified for her first Olympic Games, ultimately finishing just a couple of spots outside the top-15 cutoff of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings that would have secured her the fourth spot on Team USA in Paris. But Ewing did make her fourth U.S. Solheim Cup Team, a squad that picked up their first victory in the biennial team competition since 2017 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va.

So why step away when you’re playing incredibly solid golf week after week? Well, Ewing had more than a few reasons.

“I'm a Type I (diabetic), and down the road, if we are blessed with kids, that will be a high-risk pregnancy for me,” said Ewing ahead of the CME Group Tour Championship. “I'm 32 now. I'm not the youngest player on Tour anymore, either. You put a lot of things into the equation, and this was just the right timing for me. When I looked at my career, I wanted to play good golf as I finished my career. I didn't want to just fizzle out.

“Fortunately, knowing this year was my last year, I've played some of my best golf. I think that's just how I drew it up. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense to people, to stop playing when you're playing good golf, but that's how I wanted to do it.”

Ewing only made one start before playing in her final event at the CME Group Tour Championship in late November, teeing it up the week before at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican. The final round of that tournament saw Ewing compete alongside Brittany Lincicome, who retired after Sunday play at Pelican Golf Club, a moment that got Ewing thinking about the experience she’d have doing the same the next week in Naples, Fla.

It was a short farewell tour, one that gave her LPGA counterparts limited time to express their gratitude to and for Ally, considering the countless contributions she has made to the organization, both on and off the golf course. But her colleagues weren’t about to let Ally walk away without any recognition.

On November 12, the Mississippi native was named the 2024 Founders Award winner, a peer-voted honor given to an athlete who “exemplifies the spirit, ideals and values of the LPGA through her behavior and deeds.” And if you were to ask anyone who knows Ewing or has competed alongside her over the years on the LPGA Tour, every single person would tell you that Ally is a class act, treating everyone with genuine kindness, and is committed to making the organization better in any way that she can.

The love and respect that Ewing’s fellow athletes have for her has been on full display in recent months, with plenty of players expressing their gratitude for Ally by leaving comments on her Instagram post about her retirement and telling her in person just how much she has meant to them. But receiving the Founders Award wound up being the perfect exclamation point to Ewing’s career, as it affirmed the legacy that Ally set out to leave when she first decided to become a professional golfer and join the LPGA Tour.

Ally Ewing receiving Founders Award

“I think it's a huge honor. Any time something like that is awarded or given, it really does mean a lot,” said Ewing at the CME Group Tour Championship. “There are certain things that you work for, and you earn, but I think having the respect of your peers, that just means a lot. People have made it super easy for me since I got out here to treat people the way they've treated me. I've been treated incredibly by my peers, so it's been really easy to just try to leave a good impact on everyone, both peers, fans, everyone. People are what make things like this so special.

“In terms of when I look back on my career, this Founders Award will definitely be something I cherish for a long time.”

As the week in Naples, Fla., progressed, Ewing knew there would be some fanfare come the end of Sunday’s final round, that her family and friends – and Rusty, of course – were going to be waiting for her on the 18th green and that there would likely be flowers and a few extra post-round interviews.

However, what spoke the loudest volumes to Ewing was seeing so many of her peers standing behind the final hole at Tiburón Golf Club, excited to congratulate her on a career that was more than well done.

“The wins are great, but the relationships are really special,” said Ewing. “Having family here but then also as many players that came out and supported me finishing on 18 and even just the notes that have been left in my locker this week, it's been incredibly special to have built relationships like this. We're competing against each other, and everybody wants to win, and it's been special just to have people that truly care.”

Ally Ewing of the United States reacts after finishing on the 18th green and retiring during the final round of the CME Group Tour Championship 2024 at Tiburon Golf Club on November 24, 2024 in Naples, Florida.

Ewing is, of course, going to miss her life on the LPGA Tour. Why wouldn’t she? Even with all the early mornings and long travel days and sponsor obligations and rounds of golf, it’s been an exciting adventure, one that has seen her win three titles and represent her country in one of the biggest women’s golf competitions in the world at the Solheim Cup.

She has teed it up at some of the most historic courses in all of golf, places like Pebble Beach, St Andrews and Baltusrol, and found herself in some of the most gorgeous locales in the world. Ewing has even had the opportunity to serve as a role model for other young Type 1 diabetics who have aspirations of playing professional sports, an important platform that Ally has never once taken for granted.

But Ewing is looking forward to the new chapter that she will get to pen, even if she isn’t exactly sure what comes next. For now, though, she will be taking some time to reflect on the wild ride that she has been on for the last several years, content to relax at home in Mississippi with Charlie and Rusty right by her side, as ready as ever for what lies ahead.

Ally Ewing Celebrated End of LPGA Tour Career with New Puppy, Founders Award

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