RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Don't be fooled by the Southern sweet-tea charm of Mississippi native Ally McDonald.
She is, indeed, one of the nicest humans on the planet, but make no mistake, this woman has some fire in her belly -- which she displayed when she birdied her last hole to take a one-stroke lead Thursday evening in the first round of the ANA Inspiration.
That opening act was hard to follow Friday at Mission Hills Country Club. McDonald carded an even-par score of 72 in the second round in the LPGA's first major championship of the year.
She also had to settle her nerves on her first hole Friday after beginning her day with a bogey.
"As many deep breaths as I took and tried to calm myself down, that first tee was still pretty nerve-wracking for me," said McDonald, who enters the weekend in a tie for third, four strokes behind leader In-Kyung Kim. "Today was really one of those grinding days. I just kind of settled for some pars and that's how it was."
McDonald, 26, has spent a lifetime stepping up when she's needed to stretch herself and grinding when she has been pushed beyond her comfort zone.
She did that in high school when she played on the boys' golf team because there was no girls' squad. After two years on the team, the state high school athletic association changed the rules and made McDonald play from the same tees as the boys. That added distance forced her to stretch her own expectations and to dig a little deeper.
"My high school team was pretty stacked," said McDonald, whose hometown of Fulton, Mississippi, has a population around 4,000. "Chad Ramey went on to play [college golf] at Mississippi State and is now on the Web.com Tour. We won three or four state championships. I never felt like I was counted out."
It didn't matter that she didn't come from a big golf state like Florida or California, nor was she discounted because she didn't take the typical route most top-ranked amateurs and aspiring pros take by competing on the top-tier junior tournament circuits.
The golf course where she took her first swings wasn't one regarded as a test of golf. In fact, Fulton Country Club had only nine holes and no driving range. McDonald eventually was forced to drive for lessons at Old Waverly Country Club, a championship-level course that has hosted the U.S. Women's Open.
Rather than feeling hampered by growing up in a small dot on the map, McDonald embraced it. She could fish with the boys and cheer for Mississippi State's teams. She played point guard on her high school girls' basketball team. McDonald took off her junior year to focus on her golf game and try to earn a golf scholarship, before returning to play one more year of high school hoops as a senior.
"I probably could have played community college basketball -- and I loved it -- but all my hard work went toward golf," McDonald said. "I sort of think that wherever you put your energy is where you hope to reap the most rewards."
"... All my hard work went toward golf. I sort of think that wherever you put your energy is where you hope to reap the most rewards." Ally McDonald
That effort paid off at Mississippi State, where McDonald was a two-time first-team All-American. And the small-town girl who had spent years keeping up with the boys -- and often beating them -- turned heads when she showed up for college tournaments.
"A lot of us out here on the LPGA Tour have known each other since we were really young, playing in AJGA tournaments," said fifth-year LPGA Tour member Alison Lee, who played collegiately at UCLA, "but I didn't know Ally until she started playing well in college. ... She blossomed a little bit later than some of other players."
Late bloomer or not, Lee is not surprised to see McDonald step up her game at this week's major.
"She's a really great ball striker and she can hit it a long way," Lee said. "When she's hitting it well and in the fairway on a course like this, that's a good thing."
McDonald transitioned from college golf to the LPGA in 2016, playing mostly on the Symetra Tour. She posted eight top-10 finishes on the 2016 Symetra Tour, including four runner-up finishes.
Her first full year on the LPGA Tour came in 2017. McDonald made tournament cuts in 19 of her 24 starts and recorded what is still her career-best finish in a major, 13th at the 2017 Evian Championship.
But the 2017 season also brought along a different challenge. During the Sime Darby LPGA tournament in Malaysia, McDonald suffered heat exhaustion and dehydration, going into convulsions on the golf course. She was forced to withdraw from the tournament and was later diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
Like many tour players with diabetes who are balancing busy travel schedules and moving through time zones, McDonald tried using an insulin pump, but the device did not work for her. Now, she wears a device that provides five-minute updates on her sugar level.
"My mom is walking with me outside the ropes and she's connected to my device by Bluetooth," McDonald said. "She's able to watch my blood sugar and notify me if something is heading down. Technology is great."
With a better grasp on her physical health, McDonald said her goal this year is to have a more consistent swing and improve her performance at major championships.
"In the past, I've put a lot of pressure on myself at the majors, and I'm figuring out that just because it's a major, it shouldn't change anything about my thought process," she said. "It's [about] what you can do for four days."
Lisa D. Mickey has covered golf for Golf World, Golf For Women, The New York Times, the U.S. Golf Association, LPGA.com, Virginia Golfer Magazine and for various other publications and websites. She is based in Florida.
