On Monday, Morgan Pressel and a group of her friends raised over a million dollars for patient care and research in the fight against breast cancer.
The 13th annual Morgan & Friends charity golf outing raised $1,000,622 with the help of fellow LPGA Tour players Juli Inkster, Brittany Lincicome, Jessica Korda, So Yeon Ryu, Brooke Henderson, Paula Creamer, Lexi Thompson and Gerina Piller. PGA Tour player Billy Horschel and Golf Channel personality and instructor Martin Hall also participated in the 2020 event held at St. Andrews Country Club in Boca Raton, Fla.
“It’s been a whirlwind 13 years,” Pressel said. “I think we’ve raised nine and a half million dollars (total in 13 years), all of it to fight breast cancer here in our community.”
Pressel’s mother, Kathy Krickstein Pressel, passed away from breast cancer in 2003 at age 43. Morgan was just 15 years old at the time.
Five years later, Morgan began the Morgan Pressel Foundation and the Morgan & Friends charity outing.
“When we first started this (event), the thought was if we can save one person, one life, one family, everything that goes with breast cancer and all the heartbreak that goes with that, it will be worth it,” Pressel said. “Obviously when we lost our mother, it was hard for everyone. That was why we set out to help others. We’ve helped more than one life but honestly if we’d helped only one it still would have been amazing.”
On site again this was the Kathy Krickstein Pressel Mammo-Van, a rolling mammogram center for anyone in attendance who needed checked.
“People depend on the Mammo-Van for their annual mammograms,” Pressel said. “To hear those kinds of stories is really touching. It’s really special to honor our mother and it’s overwhelming to me that everyone has been out here with such incredible support.
“It’s kind of weird to think it’s been 13 years. I think about how young I was when we started this and it was because of some incredible fiends in this community who understood what I was trying to accomplish. I’m so thankful for all the people who have been here from the beginning.
As for the professionals who showed up again to help, Pressel said, “Every year I ask players to come and they never hesitate. It means the world to me. I can never say thank you enough.”
The event is personal for a lot of other players as well.
“We have all been so blessed to be professional golfers,” Lincicome said. “Obviously, breast cancer touches a lot of people. Everyone knows someone who has been effected by it. My grandmother passed away from breast cancer so this really means a lot to me to be here.”
“This charity is very important to me because my mother is also a breast cancer survivor,” Thompson said. “It’s very close to my heart. She usually comes out with me to this event. As athletes we want to perform well but we also want to give back. We like helping each other out for good causes and being there for each other. There’s more to life than just how we perform. It’s about how we give back.”
Pressel’s devotion to this cause is a model for everyone. And the support she has from her fellow professionals shines a light on the bond that exists on the LPGA Tour.
“We’re a family,” Korda said on Monday after her round at St. Andrews. “It’s an honor to be here supporting Morgan and this great cause.”
Then, after a moment of reflection, Korda pointed to the Mammo-Van and said, “This is Morgan’s legacy. It’s so impressive to see where she’s taken it and how it’s grown over the years.”
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