Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Mika Miyazato Pledges Winnings in LPGA Majors to the American Red Cross

Mika Miyazato announced yesterday that she'll be donating all her winnings in majors on the LPGA to the American Red Cross in support of reconstruction efforts in Japan. That's over $50.6K after her top 10 at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, which already puts her among the most generous of the many golfers who have made pledges or donations. Here's hoping her KNC donation helps keep attention on the Makeruna Nippon/Never Give Up, Japan fundraising web site that she started with Ai Miyazato and Momoko Ueda, which so far has reached only 1% of their goal in U.S. dollars. Maybe if Ryo Ishikawa gives Mikan a shout-out at the Masters....

Mikan's announcement follows on the heels of the news that 124 JLPGA players and officials raised funds in 5 major Japanese cities (Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka) this past Sunday totalling nearly 3.38M yen (almost $40K). The JLPGA returns to action in Kumamoto on April 15th; the tournament formerly known as the Nishijin Ladies Classic has been renamed the East Earthquake Reconstruction Charity Classic and it will feature such luminaries as Ji-Yai Shin, Momoko Ueda, Shiho Oyama, Hee Young Park, Shanshan Feng, Teresa Lu, Sakura Yokomine, Sun-Ju Ahn, Chie Arimura, Yuri Fudoh, and Miho Koga. My guess is we won't see either Miyazato on the JLPGA until the 1st week of May for the 1st major of the season, the Salonpas Cup, which Morgan Pressel won last year.

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