Ally Ewing, the world No. 18 and a multiple-time LPGA Tour winner, surprised the golf world in announcing her plans to retire from full-time LPGA Tour competition at the end of the season.
Ewing, who recently played on the winning United States Solheim Cup team, is walking away at 31 years old.
“It is with a heavy but grateful heart, that I want to announce that I’ll be retiring from professional golf at the end of this year,” Ewing said in the video where she voiced-over her announcement over highlights of her golf life and professional career. “When I envisioned my career, I never dreamed this small-town Mississippi girl could have had the career that God has blessed me with.”
The three-time LPGA Tour winner grew up in Fulton, Miss., a small town of just 4,500 people. She and PGA Tour pro Chad Ramey grew up together, and they created a makeshift range at the nine-hole Fulton Country Club, where she learned to play, while trying to stay out of the way of paying golfers playing through.
Ewing, nee McDonald, became the first girl to win the Mississippi boys high school state championship and went to Mississippi State for her collegiate golf, where she won a handful of times. She made her debut on what's now the Epson Tour in 2016 and got her LPGA Tour card after the following season.
Ewing got married to Mississippi State head women's golf Charlie Ewing in May 2020, and then she won her breakthrough LPGA title on her 28th birthday in October 2020 at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Georgia.
All told in eight full seasons on the LPGA, Ewing has earned more than $6 million in her career and been on three US Solheim Cup teams.
While Ewing has not won an LPGA major, 2024 marked her best season-long performance in those five tournaments. She had three top-10 finishes in the 2024 majors, including a T-3 in the US Women's Open, T-5 in the KPMG Women's PGA Championship and a T-10 in the Amundi Evian Championship.
Though her golf career has been fulfilling of the dream she chased as a kid, Ewing lamented at what she's missed in pursuit.
“I’ve seen so much of the world and met so many incredible people, but I’ve also never felt more alone at times and have missed out on things that were so close to my heart," Ewing said. “I’ve cried many tears, but I will never take for granted what this game has done for me. I have fulfilled a dream that many strive for.”
Now, it's time to find out what the rest of life has in store for her.
