After the third round of the Dow Championship, Ally Ewing and Jennifer Kupcho stand alone in first place after shooting a 3-under 67 on the second day of the four-man format. Ewing and Kupcho have combined seven starts in the single team event since its inaugural edition in 2019, and both players are using their familiarity with Midland Country Club and their experience with the tournament format to rise to the top.
The third round began at 1:27 p.m. ET on Saturday and thus began the second day of four, also known as the alternate shot. The teams had also played in this format in the first round on Thursday. The Ping-Pals made it to the second-to-last group from No. 1 and rattled off four straight out of the gate. They picked up their first birdie on the par-4 5th hole and then birdied the rest of the holes on the front nine. Ewing and Kupcho changed pace after the turn and recorded back-to-back birdies on Nos. 10 and 11 to move to 15-under. They dropped one shot after a bogey on the 16th hole and joined the pairings of In Kyung Kim and Haeji Kang, and Ruoning Yin and Atthaya Thitikul at 14-under heading into the final two holes. After Ewing hit her tee shot short of the par-3 18th hole, Kupcho sank the resulting birdie putt to give their team a one-shot lead heading into Sunday’s championship.
“It can get tough because you can hit good shots, and a good shot is 20 feet, and that’s not just a high percentage putt,” said three-time LPGA Tour winner Ewing. “I mean, we hit good pitches out there, burned edges and stuff. It is a patience game with alternate shooting. We just lean on each other, trust each other’s game. Try to have a good time out there because we only hit half the shots. So stay busy and give ourselves those breaks in turns. Somehow it’s good for us.”
The secret to Ping-Pals’ success may lie in their strategy of taking advantage of alternate days. Ewing and Kupcho have shot 64 and 67 in the first and third rounds, days when most teams simply aim to shoot under par. The struggle with form may be because they’re only hitting half the shots on the day, but Ewing and Kupcho have implemented a strategy to stay engaged even when they’re not the hitter.
“I think you both have to stay mentally on it,” said Kupcho, who also has three career wins on the LPGA Tour. “I know we’re both doing the numbers on the water, so we’re trying to stick to that. Even if we don’t hit the shot, we envision what we would do. I think it really helps. But I think we just trust each other, I trust that it will put it in a good position or I trust our game that we will make a good comeback. It’s just about trusting each other.”
Kupcho is making her fourth start at the Dow Championship this year with Ewing, having previously played with Lizette Salas, with whom she won the event in 2022. Mina Harigae, with whom Kupcho partnered in 2021. and Maria Fassi, with whom he played as a sponsor in 2019. Kupcho is one of eight past Dow champions in the field this week and one of five past champions to make the cut along with Ariya Jutanugarn, Moriya Jutanugarn, Cydney Clanton and Jasmine Suwannapura. The Jutanugarn sisters are the only past champion duo to have previously won together to make the cut at this year’s championship.
Ewing is making her third start at Midland, Mich., playing Megan Khang in 2021 and Lindy Duncan in 2019.
Eight teams are within four shots of the leaders heading into Sunday’s four-ball round. Iced Koreano (IK Kim and Haeji Kang) and Jin & Ronic (Ruoning Yin and Atthaya Thitikul) sit one shot behind Ewing and Kupcho after recording rounds of 5-under and 4-under, respectively. Amanda Doherty and Caroline Inglis of Nole Ducks Given and Grace Kim and Auston Kim of Team 2K are under 13, while Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Nicole Broch Estrup (Team Hygge) and Wei-Ling Hsu and Ssu-Chia Cheng (Team Hot Pot). ) sit in a tie for sixth at 12-under. The teams return tomorrow for an exciting day as they battle for the 2024 Dow Championship title.