Epson Tour graduate Jiwon Jeon made the second ace of the week at the Portland Classic during Friday’s second round at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.
Frenchwoman Celine Herbin holed out on the par-3 2nd hole on day one, and Jeon followed her lead on day two, making an ace of her own also on the second hole, also with her 8-iron, but this time, from 144 yards.
It was the Republic of Korea native’s second-ever hole-in-one, but it was her first in tournament competition, and after she made a bogey on the par-4 1st hole, Jeon’s ace was the breath of fresh air that she needed to finish out her round strong and helped propel her to a 6-under 66 in the second round.
“I had kind of a bad bogey on No. 10, so I'm like, okay, let me just focus back,” Jeon explained. “Then, I was standing on the tee, and we were going through the number. I was really just focused on hitting the number. we had 8-iron in our hand. I hit it and it had one bounce and just rolled back, rolled in the hole. It was amazing.”
Jeon wasn’t even sure her shot went in at first, admitting that she only realized that the ball had actually found the bottom of the cup when she heard people yelling by the second green.
“I actually kind of missed it going in,” Jeon said. “I was already walking off the tee box, and then I heard someone screaming and then I think I kind of see the ball fell in, but I wasn't sure. Everyone just kind of go crazy. Elizabeth (Szokol) gave me a high five, so I started giving high fives to everyone.”
In honor of Jeon’s hole-in-one, CME Group will be making a $20,000 donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as part of their CME Group Cares Challenge – Score 1 for St. Jude campaign. The challenge is a season-long charitable giving program that turns aces into donations with a minimum guaranteed donation of $500,000 going to St. Jude’s at the end of this season.
Jeon’s ace raises the 2024 donation total to $360,000, as it’s the 18th hole-in-one recorded in an LPGA Tour event this season. The Korean was delighted to be able to contribute to childhood cancer research with her incredible shot on Friday at Columbia Edgewater Country Club and is hoping to have more aces in the future that will garner even more donations from the CME Group.
“I love that. Amazing,” said Jeon. “It feels great that I can actually contribute some donation to the children who need some help and children’s hospital. I'm very happy that I can put some my contribution in there. I'm trying to have more hole-in-ones afterwards and then probably more donations.”
ANOTHER ACE! 🤯@JiwonJeon3 grabs the second ace of the tournament on No. 2 with her 8-iron 🏌️♀️ pic.twitter.com/2tX4QWDars
— LPGA (@LPGA) August 2, 2024
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