NAPLES, Fla. — Republic of Korea native Jenny Shin recorded the 19th hole-in-one of the 2023 LPGA Tour season on Friday at the CME Group Tour Championship. The LPGA Tour winner aced the par-3 8th hole at Tiburón Golf Club, holing out from 141 yards with her 8-iron.
“(It was) 141, right to left into the wind. Hit just a solid 8-iron. It was drawing into the hole, landed five feet short, and I saw it hop in the hole,” Shin recounted. “The crowd went wild, so I was like, oh, okay, hole-in-one, I'll take that. Felt great.”
It’s the third time that Shin has made a hole-in-one on the LPGA Tour, and it’s her first ace since the 2017 AIG Women’s Open when she holed out on the par-3 14th hole in round two. Shin also recorded a hole-in-one during the second round of the 2012 Chevron Championship on the par-3 17th hole at Mission Hills Country Club.
In honor of Shin’s ace at the CME Group Tour Championship, CME will donate $20,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital 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. Today’s hole-in-one raises the 2023 donation total to $380,000.
While Shin was happy to record her third career ace on the LPGA Tour, she was more pleased that she could contribute something to someone else, as that $20,000 donation definitely will make a difference when it comes to the childhood cancer research to which St. Jude is dedicated.
“I'm really glad it benefitted someone. I think CME is pretty amazing for doing such work, so I'm glad I can contribute to something,” said Shin. “Don't think it contributed much to my round, but, hey, as long as it goes somewhere, very happy about that.”
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