Fast starts are good in golf and for the newly minted Wounded Warrior Weekend. Thank France’s Karine Icher and South Korea’s Amy Yang for getting the tally ticking upward almost immediately during the past two years of the charity component for the Race to the CME Globe title.
During the final two rounds at LPGA tournaments, CME Group is donating $1,000 to Wounded Warrior Project for each eagle that is recorded. This amount will increase to $5,000 for each eagle during the weekend of the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship and a formal check will be presented to the Wounded Warrior Project during the trophy ceremony. To get involved and learn more, visit woundedwarriorproject.org.
One year ago at the season-opening Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic, Icher made an ace on the fifth hole and a final-hole eagle in the third round. With 12 eagles holed by nine different players in the third round, $12,000 was raised for the Wounded Warrior Project on the first day of the program’s competition. Paula Creamer, Amelia Lewis and Icher made multiple eagles in the round.
“Maybe playing golf when you have a bad day, you say, well, I know, I know what I compete for, and maybe I'm going to help someone,” Icher said. “It doesn't matter, you can shoot like 3‑, 4‑over and maybe make an eagle, and OK, you make a thousand dollars.”
Last week at the Coates Golf Championship – the first event of 2015 and the first hole of the third round – Amy Yang holed a pitching wedge from 120 yards for an eagle-2 on the par-4 first hole of Golden Ocala. It was the first money earned for the Wounded Warrior Project this year.
“ As soon as I hit it, I said, ‘Oh, maybe this is a good shot,’ ” Yang said. “But I didn't think it would go in but it went in.”
For the 2014 season, 283 eagles were made on the weekend, raising $283,000. While no eagles were made on the weekend in Naples, the CME Group generously rounded up to $300,000. The 2014 season also had a lot of aces and double eagles. Of the 31 holes in one, 15 came in weekend play. Of a record four double eagles during the year, three were scored on the weekend.
Last week at the 2015 season-opening Coates Golf Championship, there were seven eagles during the entire tournament, with five occurring on the weekend for a $5,000 start to the season.
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