Therese Warner sobbed uncontrollably.
The newly minted pro was crying not because she’d just won her first tournament, but because she’d been the recipient of a wonderful act of sportsmanship.
Warner, a 21-year-old from Kennewick, Washington, recorded a 2-under 70 in the final round of the Lake Jovita Women’s Championship, an East Coast Women’s Pro Golf Tour event in Dade City, Florida, to finish at 7-under. With a 67, Kynadie Adams, an 18-year-old Gallatin, Tennessee high school senior and Alabama women’s golf pledge, forced a playoff. Warner asked Adams’s father and caddie, Adrian, where they needed to meet for extra holes after signing her scorecard.
However, there would be no playoff – Adams agreed, allowing Warner to receive the full $10,000 first-place prize.
“I was stunned,” Warner admitted. “I still can’t believe someone could be so attentive and nice.” She did that for me without hesitation.”
The difference in Warner’s bank account was nearly $4,000, allowing her to keep the whole first-place check. If Adams, who was playing as an amateur, had won the playoff, she could have taken a maximum of $1,000 without losing her amateur status, while Warner would have received the second-place prize money, which would have been closer to $6,000. (The first-place award would have been returned to the purse and distributed evenly among those who finished in the money.)
Adams demonstrated that she has knowledge beyond her years on her 18th birthday. She had the foresight to recognize the situation. She was remaining warm on the range after missing a 3-foot putt on the last hole, assuming there would almost certainly be a playoff. Adams had won the tournament and had a conversation with her father about what to do about the peculiar conditions that could effect the prize.
Adrian Adams stated, “She remarked, ‘That’s not right.'” “It was a simple conclusion after we validated the situation.”
“I didn’t feel good about taking money that I wasn’t going to get anyhow,” Adams explained. “People aren’t aware of the financial disparity. She’ll most likely be able to participate in a lot more events.”
Mark Berman, the founder of the women’s professional developing circuit, said, “I’ve been in the golf business at nearly every level for about 25 years and this is a first.” “She told me, ‘The $1,000 means nothing to me since I’m going to college.’ But it’s everything for Therese, who is just starting her professional career and has been through so much.’
Warner couldn’t believe what he was hearing. They exchanged hugs. Warner wept.
“I was on the verge of crying,” Adams said.
Warner spent two years at Arizona before accessing the transfer portal. She intended to join the squad at the University of South Florida. “Is this what’s best for me?” she asked herself at the eleventh hour.
She turned professional last month and rose to No. 4 on the ECWPGT, with top-two finishers earning exemptions to events like the Colorado Women’s Open and PXG Women’s Match Play Championship later in the year. In truth, Warner didn’t register for the Lake Jovita tournament until the deadline was extended after the Colorado Open exemption was announced.
“I was thinking, ‘Might as well, right?'” Warner said around 11 p.m.
Adams, who said she learned “I can definitely hang with the pros” after celebrating her birthday with “a little brownie skillet thing,” was playing in her first event since October.
“I’m a competitor, and I love winning,” she remarked of her generous act. “I still believe I’ve won.”
