EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France — Two holes-in-one were made in the morning wave on Thursday at The Amundi Evian Championship.

Amateur Chun-Wei Wu got the party started with an ace on the par-3 5th hole, holing out from 177 yards with her 5-iron to record her first hole-in-one in a major championship.

“I didn't see the ball go in,” said Wu. “I asked my friend, and they say, you go in. I said whoo-hoo. Really? First hole-in-one in a major. I'm so excited.”

Wu was given a sponsor exemption into this week’s event after her win at the 2024 Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific Championship, a title she captured back in early February. It’s just her second time ever competing on the LPGA Tour, as Wu also played in The Chevron Championship in April as a sponsor exemption, ultimately missing the cut at The Club at Carlton Woods.

She carded an even-par 71 in the first round in Evian-les-Bains, France, making four bogeys and two birdies in addition to her hole-in-one.

Playing in the group behind Wu, Jodi Ewart Shadoff followed the amateur’s lead, making a hole-in-one of her own on the par-3 16th hole, the 16th ace of the 36-year-old Englishwoman’s life.

The LPGA Tour winner holed out from 148 yards with a 9-iron on the difficult par 3 at Evian Resort Golf Club after banking her tee shot off the slope right of the green, a shot that Ewart Shadoff wasn’t expecting to go in, but that was a pleasant surprise after what had been a difficult day one for the veteran.

“I struck it really nicely,” said Ewart Shadoff, who has made five other aces on the LPGA Tour since becoming a member in 2011. “It was a little right of the pin, so I knew it needed the left bounce off that slope. It was going straight at the hole, and I was like, oh, man, this has a chance. My caddie was like, get the putt. It's funny.”

Ewart Shadoff’s ace also had some bigger implications than just lowering her first-round score. As part of their sponsorship of the 16th hole, Porsche will award Ewart Shadoff a €180,000 credit for a car of her choosing, a bonus prize that isn’t often available on the LPGA Tour but that was a dream come true for Ewart Shadoff.

“It’s incredible. Porsche has always been my dream car,” said Ewart Shadoff. “For me, it was clear right away that I was going for the flag if there’s a Porsche at stake. It’s mind-blowing, a very cool moment.”

CME Group will also make a donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on both Ewart Shadoff and Wu’s behalf as part of their CME Group Cares Challenge – Score 1 for St. Jude. The Challenge is a season-long charitable giving program that turns aces into donations 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.

Each player’s ace will see $20,000 donated to St. Jude’s, raising the 2024 donation total to $260,000, a charitable cause that both Ewart Shadoff and Wu were happy to contribute to as a result of their excellent golf shots on day one of The Amundi Evian Championship.

“Obviously, to do something like that for such a great cause, it's just a great bonus,” Ewart Shadoff said. “It's a really good thing.”

Wu agreed. “I have no idea, but I'm very happy to donate to that,” said the amateur. “It's very good.”

The two holes-in-one are the seventh and eighth aces to be made at The Amundi Evian Championship since it became a major championship. Three were recorded in 2023 by Saki Baba, Moriya Jutanugarn and Emma Talley, while one hole-in-one was made in 2014 by Mika Miyazato. Two aces were also recorded in 2013 by Katie Burnett and Caroline Hedwall.

Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Chun-Wei Wu Make Aces in First Round of Amundi Evian Championship

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