Rickie Fowler hole-in-one earns Els' charity $1m
Rickie Fowler's hole-in-one at a charity event for autism research earned Ernie Els' foundation $1 million
A Rickie Fowler hole-in-one on Monday at a charity golf event earned The Els for Autism Foundation a whopping $1 million
Fresh off a tie for 8th place finish at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, a Rickie Fowler hole-in-one on Monday at a charity golf event for The Els for Autism Foundation, earned the foundation a whopping $1 million.
His reaction? “Pretty cool.”
Later in the day, Fowler referred to his ‘Epic Monday’ in an Instagram post, and described it as “one of the coolest moments in my life”.
The event took place at the Old Palm Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens and featured a host of prominent PGA Tour players, including major champions Rory Mcilroy and Louis Oosthuizen, who can be seen celebrating with Els and Fowler in videos circulating on social media.
The Rickie Fowler hole-in-one, a one-hopper on the ‘bonus’ 19th hole after the pro-am had ended, stole the show.
What made the shot even more remarkable was that Fowler used Luke Donald’s Mizuno MP-5 pitching wedge to make the ace, and reportedly hit the shot wearing trainers as he thought he was done for the day.
Els and his Els for Autism Foundation host a yearly pro-am to raise support for the foundation and his Centre of Excellence.
The cause is a personal one for Els and his wife Liezl, who have a son named Ben who is profoundly impacted by the disorder. They set up the foundation in 2009.
The ace caused a riotous celebration, with players and spectators alike rushing into congratulate Fowler. The Big Easy immediately ran toward Fowler and gave him a huge hug before lifting him up in celebration, as seen in the image above. His wife Liezl was moved to tears.
Els later tweeted about the ace, reporting that it was from 113 yards. He went on to say that he would “always remember this moment” and that he was humbled.
A great shot for an even greater cause.