CINCINNATI — Ally Ewing made five consecutive birdies on Sundays back nine and finished with a 7 under 65 to defeat Xiyu Lin to win the Kroger City Championship in the LPGA Tour’s return to Cincinnati.
Ewing now has three career victories, one in each the past three year, even though she came into this tourney without a top-10 finish.
The 29-year-old American player was bogey-free on a course that was rain-softened and was pushed all the way by Lin, who birdied two out of her last three holes for a 65.
Maria Fassi from Mexico finished third with a score of 71%.
Lin started the final round two strokes behind, but quickly gained ground with a pair if birdies. Ewing had to make an 8-footer on the par-5 12th to match Lins birdies and keep tied. The American continued to play.
Ewing led the way with an 8-foot birdie at the par-4 13th. Lin was next, making a 10-foot birdie at the 15th. Lin then hit wedge to 8 feet for birdie. Ewing finished fifth in a row on 16th.
Lin made an 18-foot birdie at the 456-yard closing hole, which was only the 20th birdie of the week on No. 18 — to add some pressure. Ewing was unable to make the green, so he decided to putter through 5 feet of fairway grass.
She gave it a good kick and the putt rolled to 3 feet left of hole. Lin made her birdie. Ewing calmly rapped the par to finish at 22under 266.
Ewing was happy to win the victory as she had decided last month to shorten her put stroke in an effort find something.
After getting soaked in sparkling wine on the 18th hole, Ewing stated that the key for me is knowing that its there. The change that I made a few months before Canada… this week, I saw putts come in. They went in and I was confident.
One of them was for Par. Ewing began with eight pars, Lin was off to a great start, and Ewing had a 6-foot par putt on No. 7 to avoid falling behind.
Ewing said that the 6-footer was just a 6-footer, but that he saw a 6-footer get in.
Lin was two shots behind when Lin failed to birdie her par-5 15th. However, she had two good chances and converted two of them.
26-year-old Chinese girl, Janet, is still searching for her first win.
Lin said, I did what I could, It was one of the best rounds I have ever played all year. I came in second, which is a little disappointing. Ally did so well. Bravo, Ally!
Since 2017, Ewing has reached CME Group Tour Champion for the top 60 players each year. This year, however, was bleak with no top 10. She was at No. 70 in Race to CME Globe. The victory elevates her to No. She is now 30 and will be in Naples, Florida for the season finale in November.