![Ally Ewing on the 18th at the Walton Heath - Ally Ewing and the eerie Deep South parallels behind Open bid](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/golf/2023/08/11/TELEMMGLPICT000345466258_16917796512400_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqqVzuuqpFlyLIwiB6NTmJwarI9ukQAzz8J0u7PEbMdV0.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Ally Ewing and the eerie Deep South parallels behind Open bid
Similarities between Ewing and Harman's Open challenges extend beyond a love of hunting
![Ally Ewing on the 18th at the Walton Heath - Ally Ewing and the eerie Deep South parallels behind Open bid](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/golf/2023/08/11/TELEMMGLPICT000345466258_16917796512400_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqqVzuuqpFlyLIwiB6NTmJwarI9ukQAzz8J0u7PEbMdV0.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Oh dear God, there are two of them. Just like Brian Harman, Ally Ewing is five clear at the halfway mark of the British major. Just like Harman, Ewing is 10 under after two rounds. Just like Harman, Ewing is being chased by a local favourite. And just like Harman, Ewing is from the Deep South and enjoys hunting.
Ewing, of course, is hoping to emulate Harman and go on to win her first major here at the AIG Women’s Open on Sunday and on this form even the inspired Charley Hull might struggle to stop her.
Considering the similarities between the pair and their challenges, it is little wonder Ewing is determined to follow the example of Harman, who, three weeks ago, lifted the Claret Jug 200 miles north of this Surrey heathland.
“It’s pretty cool, he’s a southerner as well, just a few states over from me in Georgia,” Ewing, the world No 39, said. “What Brian did was inspirational to a little Mississippi girl like me. You know, he had people rooting for other players and I can kind of attest to that. There is plenty in common and I hope I can emulate him.”
Inevitably, the bloodsport connection will claim the headlines. While Harman disclosed his penchant for shooting pigs and turkeys, the Ewings prefer bigger game. “My husband and I, we do mostly deer hunting, so venison,” she said.
Ewing is aware of the negativity which Harman drew for explaining his passion. “I think people can spin it the wrong way for sure,” she said. “It’s a means to eat … you put food on the table that way.”
It is highly unlikely that Ewing, 30, will face the same levels of vitriol. Harman revealed earlier this week he felt forced to have spectators evicted. “It turned hard on me on the weekend,” he said in an interview. “On Sunday, this one guy followed me from the sixth to the 10th, yelling ‘you’re going to choke’ whenever I was over the ball. He started to do it on my backswing and that meant he had to go.”
The Walton Heath fans seem a quieter, more respectful bunch. Certainly Ewing’s ball-striking deserves every decibel of applause. The two-time Solheim Cup star – who played in the last biennial dust-ups under her maiden name McDonald – has racked up 12 birdies and an eagle thus far and this six-under 66 was the best of the day by two shots. And even if not everyone approves of her hobby, Ewing is an undoubted role model as a diabetic.
“I found out I had Type 1 just after I qualified from Tour school [in 2015],” she said. “So that’s a battle in itself. I have to carry around a device which tells me my blood sugar and if it goes low I have a bottle of Gatorade in my bag that I drink six ounces of. When it drops, I feel shaky and very fatigued all of a sudden. It’s tough, but the technology has progressed a long way.”
As a three-time LPGA Tour winner, Ewing has everything it takes to be another front-runner who stretches out all the way to the line, although Hull, 27, will be a confident pursuer.
The world No 16’s own 68 – which took her to five under and level with another American in Andrea Lee and Japan’s Minami Katsu – was compiled in the more difficult conditions of the afternoon. The fact there were no bogeys on her scorecard made her candidature stand out in the gusts and squalls.
Tommy Fleetwood failed to hunt down the hunter at Hoylake, but Hull seems primed. “It’s a great score by Ally, but it’s all good now,” Hull said. “Just chase her down.”