Ally Ewing hits her tee shot on the seventh hole during the second round of the British Women’s Open on Friday in Surrey, England. Ewing shot 6-under 66 and is 10 under for the tournament. John Walton/PA via AP
WALTON-ON-THE-HILL, England — There’s a golfer hailing from America’s South and with a passion for hunting who is running away with the British Open, thanks to precise driving and a red-hot putter.
Sound familiar?
Ally Ewing is putting up a good impression of Brian Harman as she goes for a first major title this week at Walton Heath.
The No. 39-ranked Ewing rolled in six birdies in her first 11 holes and shot 6-under 66 Friday to establish a five-stroke lead after the second round of the Women’s British Open – the final LPGA major of the year.
Ewing is delivering a golfing clinic southwest of London, three weeks after Harman did the same four hours north at Royal Liverpool in the men’s British Open to win his first major championship.
Harman was 10 under after the second round and led by five from a home hope, Tommy Fleetwood. Ewing has the same score, holds the same lead, and is also being chased by a popular English player, with Charley Hull in a three-way tie for second.
Ewing is tied for the largest 36-hole lead at the Women’s British Open since it became a major in 2001.
“I think a lot of people, I wouldn’t say they were rooting against him but a lot of people were rooting for other people,” Ewing said. “I can kind of attest to that in some sense. But, yeah, certainly happy with where I am through 36 holes.”
The similarities with Harman don’t end there.
Ewing is from Mississippi, and Harman is from Georgia.
And then there’s the hunting – the favored pursuit of Harman and something which proved to be a fascination for the British media, who labeled him “Brian the Butcher.”
Yes, Ewing confirmed, she also likes to hunt.
“For the most part, my family, my husband and I, we do mostly deer hunting, so venison,” she said. “That’s most of what we do.”
The field will look to hunt down Ewing over the weekend but will need her to slow up. She is tied for the largest 36-hole lead at the Women’a British Open since it became a major in 2001.
At one stage Friday, she held a seven-shot lead and she felt like she was in a trance when making four straight birdies from No. 6.
“I didn’t really even know until I signed my scorecard that I had four birdies in a row,” Ewing said, “so I would probably say that stretch from like No. 6 to No. 11 is kind of a little bit of a blur.”
There was another birdie at No. 16 before a bogey at the last, after her worst swing of the day on the 18th tee, gave her rivals some hope. Ewing was 10 under overall.
The biggest names in women’s golf couldn’t keep up.
Top-ranked Nelly Korda shot 70 and was 1 under for the tournament – nine off the lead – like Rose Zhang, the 20-year-old American sensation in her first year of pro golf who also shot 71 in her second round.
Celine Boutier, the Frenchwoman who arrived as the hottest player in the game after back-to-back titles, including the Evian Championship, also shot 71 and was two shots further back at 1 over for the tournament. That was one shot above the cut.
Former top-ranked player Lydia Ko, currently ranked No. 5, made five bogeys in the opening 10 holes of her 74 and missed the cut, along with last year’s champion, Ashleigh Buhai of Australia.
Hull, England’s biggest hope of a home winner, had a bogey-free 68 to join Minami Katsu (69) of South Korea and Andrea Lee (68) of the United States in second place.
PGA: Sloppy mud one day, broiling heat the next. Lucas Glover is playing his best golf no the matter the conditions on the ground or in the air, posting a 6-under 64 for a one-shot lead over Jordan Spieth in the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tennessee.
Glover holed three putts longer than 25 feet, one of them for eagle on the par-5 16th, and has made only one bogey through 36 holes going into the weekend of the PGA Tour’s postseason opener at TPC Southwind.
It was the 19th time in his last 20 rounds Glover has shot in the 60s. A week ago, he was No. 112 in the FedEx Cup and looking at a month off. Now he’s moving closer to making it all the way to the Tour Championship.
Glover was at 10-under 130.
Spieth was up to his tricks, holing a bunker shot for birdie on the seventh hole after back-to-back bogeys, part of a late surge that gave him a 68.
Tommy Fleetwood (66) and Sungjae Im (65) were among five players at 8-under 132. Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy each had a 66 and were in the group three shots behind.
LIV: Cameron Smith bounced back from his worst finish of the year with a 5-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead over Charles Howell III at LIV Golf-Bedminster in New Jersey.
Smith finished 35th last week at The Greenbrier. He had never been to the Trump National course at Bedminster – Smith joined LIV Golf a month after the event last year at Trump National – but he found the course and his game more to his liking.
Howell had the lead for part of the day until making two bogeys over his last four holes, one of them on a par 5. Howell, like Smith, has one LIV victory this year. He won the season opener at Mayakoba, but has had only two top 10s his last nine starts.
Bryson DeChambeau, coming off a 58 on the final day at The Greenbrier, was 15 shots worst at Trump National. He opened with a 73.
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