US Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis certainly learned a thing or two about Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho this week at the Dow Championship. But the most important lesson was that the pair are excellent partners for team play.
The Ping-Pals, as Ewing and Kupcho dubbed themselves in their debut partnership at this event, nearly captured the Dow Championship title Sunday in Midland, Mich., falling just one shot short of Atthaya Thitikul and Ruoning Yin.
The pair went bogeyless in the final round, making six total birdies on day four at Great Lakes State, and needed just one more on the final hole to force a playoff with Team Jin & Ronic’s Atthaya Thitikul and Ruoning Yin, who had placed the clubhouse lead at 22-under. But after Ewing and Kupcho birdied the par-3 18th hole at Midland Country Club, their hopes of victory were dashed and the team ultimately finished as runners-up in the Dow Championship after playing as teammates for the first time.
“We got off to a slow start, but we hung in there. It wasn’t easy,” Ewing said in a solo press conference after the round as Kupcho had a flight to catch. “I think in these tournaments, if you get to hole 18, you have a chance to win the golf tournament or force a playoff. That’s all you’re asking for. It was a fun week with Jen and hopefully it’s something we can do again at the Solheim Cup.”
But there was more to take from the week than a trophy, although it would have been nice for the Ping-Pals to put up some material on Sunday in Midland, Mich.
The pair’s on-court chemistry was undeniable at the Dow Championship in both formats, providing some positive signs that the two could be excellent partners for the Solheim Cup in September.
The Ping-Pals were a combined 9-under over two rounds of four at Midland Country Club and were 12-under over two rounds of four-ball, posting a four-day total of 21-under and recording all four rounds in the 60s, a great class when you consider how difficult alternate shooting can be for two players using very different equipment.
But despite those challenges, Ewing felt she and Kupcho were on a roll all week at the Dow Championship and hopes the pair will have a chance to reunite as teammates at the Solheim Cup at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va. , later this season.
“It was nice to work with someone whose game you can trust,” Ewing said of Kupcho. “Alternative shot, I think we’re by far a really, really, really good alternative shot team, and it’s just a matter of making a lot of birdies on the best ball day. We just needed one more to get into the playoffs, but it was a really fun week with her.”
Ewing sits third in the US Pontus Cup team standings and likely won’t need a captain’s pick to make the team like she did last year at Finca Cortesin, having already clinched a spot after returning to the top five in the last two major leagues.
Kupcho, on the other hand, is currently on the outside looking in on the top seven players in the standings, sitting 12th overall, ground she will need to cover in the coming weeks to earn an automatic qualification spot.
And if they both represent the Red, White and Blue later this year domestically, you can be sure that Captain Lewis will remember what the Ping-Pals did at the Dow Championship when she decides who will partner up in the four-and-four games at the Solheim Cup .
But qualifying for the biennial team event doesn’t end until late August, and with two more majors on deck in the Amundi Evian Championship and the AIG Women’s Open, both Ewing and Kupcho will be looking to ride the momentum that’s been building from Their good performance in the Dow Championship in the last two majors of the season, the first of which is due to start in 11 days in Evian-les-Bains, France.
“I think as we get closer to September, the better finishes you can get, the better feel and confidence you have leading into the Solheim Cup,” Ewing said. “These three weeks (in a row) have been disgusting. When you’re in contention, it’s a mental and physical battle, so I’d definitely say I’m looking forward to a few days off.
“But the game is very good. The more opportunities I give myself to lift a trophy, the more I believe I will. As you said, my game is very good. I’m looking forward to a week off and then I’ll take it to Europe.”
