Q. Okay, here with Ally Ewing after her second round here at Pelican Women's Championship. What were some of the highlights of your round today? I know we saw a lot of birdies on the card. Any of those stand out to you?
ALLY EWING: I got started really well on 10. Hit a really good approach shot, followed by another solid one on 11, which kind of really just gives you a good feeling to start your round with a couple birdies.
And unfortunately gave a couple away on my front nine but then closed with a really good back nine, so I felt like it was really solid, good ball striking day, which is what I rely on a lot of times.
Q. Take us through the last hole. I know it was really close to the hole. As you were watching it, what were you feeling and how was the approach?
ALLY EWING: Yeah, everyone at the green was like, go in, go in, go in, so I started getting pretty juiced up thinking I might have a hole in one, but it was like a foot so good enough to cap off my round with a birdie.
Tap-in birdies are always good.
Q. Sitting close to the top tomorrow. A little work to be done, but only 18 holes left. What's the strategy going to be like?
ALLY EWING: Same strategy for me. Just one shot at a time type execution. It's easy to get ahead of yourself, but I've found myself in good positions like this, so for me just teeing it up with a lot of confidence.
I feel well rested, but obviously go in with a mindset of off-season just around the corner, so want to capitalize on this opportunity to hopefully get a good finish this week and play a solid round tomorrow.
Q. Do you like being in the chase and getting to be a little more aggressive?
ALLY EWING: I wouldn't say that I would be anymore aggressive than I would be in a typical round. I'm very strategic with how I play my shots, so hopefully I just put myself in good positions with good tee balls to start, and then rely on my ball striking and hopefully roll in a few putts.
Q. This seems like the kind of golf course where the scores can be dictated by the hole locations.
ALLY EWING: Yeah.
Q. Some out here completely where they are just completely inaccessible. How do you remain patient knowing that's the case?
ALLY EWING: Yeah, I think for me, I have such like a hard line on what I do with the DECADE system that I use, DECADE Golf around the golf course.
So when I see a pin that's just encouraging you to say, look over here, I see that my yardage book says I need to look like five yards away from that pin.
For me it's being very deliberate and also just really relying on the fact that if that's a pin that people are going to get aggressive with, I'm going to take my aggressively conservative line according to DECADE with the number that I have in.
So you're right, there are some pins that can certainly tempt you, but it's just being really deliberate, decisive, and looking away from them.
Q. For the uninitiated, what is the DECADE system?
ALLY EWING: Yeah, it's a series of stats that kind of tells you from 120 yards you've got this shot pattern that might tell you you hit it within here to here, left and right, so you kind of move that shot pattern around depending on the distance for what the tour average is from that number.
Q. You're one the few people out here who actually works shots. Do you find that is advantageous given some of difficulty of those hole locations?
ALLY EWING: Yeah, I wouldn't say that I intentionally like step up to shots where I'm like, oh, I'm going to hit a big draw here, but I play to a good miss I think I would say.
So like on hole -- my last hole, for instance, I'm looking five yards left of that pin, but there is slope that takes it that way.
So for me, it's just kind of being smart and knowing that, okay, if I do cut this it's fine, but I'm going to try to hit it straight. That's kind of how I think my way around the golf course when it comes to working the ball.
Q. Did that system take a while to win you over, or did you kind of take to it right away?
ALLY EWING: No, I mean, I've used it for a really long time. Specifically my swing coach back in West Point, VJ Trolio, he was in on it really quick. I think some of the biggest difference that I see in junior golf, college golf, and professional golf course just strategic management, course management of the golf course, and I think those that can think their way properly around the golf course as well as execute definitely is a big advantage.
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