By now you’ve probably read how Darren Clarke’s wife Heather died this weekend after battling cancer. I knew about her being ill, sure. Most golf fans did. But I hadn’t read any of the stories about her death until just now. Scanning around on various golf blogs I stopped at Even Par Round’s blog where I saw this AP story.
It was sadly predictable - all too depressing. One thing, made me smile, however: The account of how, Paul McGinley, a buddy of Clarke’s, is helping Darren cope. Along with Clarke, McGinley is sitting out the PGA Championship this week. “Our two families are very much intertwined, obviously me and Darren out here, but Heather and (McGinley’s wife) Ali were the best of friends and our kids are in the same class at school,” said McGinley.
McGinley’s a guy who’s got his priorities in order. He’s not alone:
On McGinley’s web site, I read that Padraig Harrington, another class act (and someone who knows a bit about how cancer can devastate a family), has said he is going to donate his winnings this week to breast cancer research.
In light of this tragedy, I’d love to see the PGA of America and all of the competitors do likewise. (You too.)
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3 comments
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§ Dave Marrandette said on : 2006-08-16 @ 09:12
Mark, An excellent call. Everyone who cashes a check this week should donate their winnings to Breast Cancer especially the PGA of America. To the big boys in FL, if you really want to "make golf a better game," donate a few $million on Sunday night, then we'll know where your priorites are.
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§ mike said on : 2006-08-16 @ 11:15
That's bunk Dave. Why don't you donate 30% of the proceeds of your book (which you pimp constantly) to breast cancer all the time, not just when the wife of one high profile person dies. The PGA donates many millions every year to many different charities. How do you decide that any one charity or cancer deserves more money than others, is it only by what celebrity dies that week? Does helping children learn to read, or keep them off the street, or helping the homeless take a back seat for the entire year to breast cancer donations (which every golfer should evidently donate their entire pay check to because it was their personal fault). Why don't they donate their money to testicular cancer research because Billy Mayfair had it, or prostate cancer research because golf is watched and played by a lot of old men? What should their priorities be?
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§ Ron Mon®
said on : 2006-08-24 @ 22:57
Yeah, I put my Ride For Roswell (Park Cancer Center) donation info out in the blogosphere this year, and no one responded. Was I pissed? No. People have priorities for their charitable donations. If they have a few bucks and trust an online donation, they do it. There is no way to look after all the charitable orgs that come calling. Just when we cover the bases of the research facilities, something like Katrina or Tsunami happens, and we have to give even more.
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