Chinese native Janet Lin made an ace on the 7th hole in the final round of the DIO Implant LA Open on Sunday, her fifth in LPGA Tour competition and the 13th hole in one of the 2022 season. The 26-year-old dunked it using a 54-degree wedge from 94 yards on the par 3 and was shocked her ball found the bottom of the cup after hitting the pin.
“What was shocking to me is the ball hit the flag, and my ball never goes well after hitting the flag,” said Lin. “So at that time I was just thinking, ‘Okay, where now? Where did it go this time now?’ And I completely didn't realize it went in, and I still didn't believe it. It took me so long. Until I picked the ball out of the hole I was like, ‘Really?’ It finally go well this time.”
With the ace, CME Group will donate $20,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as part of their CME Group Cares Challenge - Score 1 for St. Jude initiative, a season-long charitable giving program that turns aces into donations. While the hole out helped her post an under-par score for the week, Lin is just happy to be able to contribute to the cause and is grateful to CME Group for all they do for the LPGA Tour and for their commitment to the charities they support.
“I think I should make more hole in one then,” she said. “I always appreciate the CME Group, their help, whether sponsoring the last tournament of the year or doing all the charities. Until right now, I’m still keeping the CME headcovers from Tour Championship last year on my driver. That's the only headcover I probably wouldn't switch. These kinds of things, I probably wouldn't see it, but that's a really good motivation for me. And that's just like us playing golf. We want to inspire kids, and CME is doing things to help out the kids, too. That's great.”
Janet’s hole in one was the third and final ace of the week with Allisen Corpuz and Amy Olson notching matching 1s on the par-3 18th hole on Thursday. CME Group donates $20,000 for each hole-in-one made on the LPGA Tour in 2022, with a minimum guaranteed donation of $500,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which is leading the way in how the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and life-threatening diseases. After the DIO Implant LA Open, $60,000 will be contributed to the CME Group Cares Challenge - Score 1 for St. Jude raising the 2022 season total to $260,000.