MEMPHIS — It had come down to one putt on the final hole of the final round at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, and Lucas Glover stopped in his tracks. To the side of TPC Southwind’s 18th green stood 12-year-old Quincy Hankins, a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital patient from Cordova, Tennessee.
Glover stood there clapping at first, then gave Quincy two thumbs up. Never mind if he made the 21-footer awaiting him he would earn $3.6 million and secure a second win in as many weeks.
“He doesn’t really realize the magnitude of what’s happening,” Quinton Hankins said laughing as his son waved to the massive gallery.
Memphis played host to yet another nail-biting finish Sunday – a third-straight tournament here needing more than 72 holes to determine the winner. Watching on during the thrilling conclusion, which included a 94-minute weather delay and ended with Glover besting Patrick Cantlay on the first playoff hole, were six representatives for St. Jude.
They were the honorary pin flag caddies at No. 18, an annual treat for the fans that accompanies the final pairings at this tournament. Some patients have done it numerous times. Some did it for the first time Sunday. Most were children, but one was 24 years old. They’re all surviving cancer because of the treatment St. Jude provided.
It’s the best way to highlight the underlying mission of this event for a national television audience, and to see what’s at the other end of St. Jude’s international fundraising efforts.
So right around the time Glover hit his tee shot on No. 14 into the water, setting up a bogey that opened the door for Cantlay to briefly grab the lead, 9-year-old Maelin-Kate had one request for her mother, Megan: “I need a hug.”
She was adopted from China by a family in the Huntsville, Alabama, area almost six years ago. After an initial diagnosis of hip dysplasia when she first arrived, lab tests revealed something far worse. She had Fanconi anemia, a rare genetic blood disorder. She needed St. Jude and St. Jude delivered with the hospital’s first Fanconi anemia bone marrow transplant four years ago.
But then the moment came Sunday, when Maelin-Kate walked out to the green, and blew kisses to the crowd – not nervous at all. She handed bracelets to golfers Tom Kim and Emiliano Grillo. Kim and Grillo each gave her a glove. One had a message: “All my (picture of a heart). Keep it up!! (smiley face).”
This is her second year serving as an honorary pin…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golfweek…