St. Jude patients hit the putting green with PGA players, and everyone wins

Two St. Jude patients were given the golf lesson of a lifetime Tuesday.

During the TaylorMade/PING putt-around, PGA Tour players Harris English and Taylor Montgomery practiced putting balls with the two St. Jude patients, Maelin-Kate and Azalea, who both received first-of-their-kind treatments from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The cool and cloudy summer weather was perfect for the kids to get their game on, and learn from the best.

“It’s absolutely great to be here again, and it’s good to see that the lessons she got last year [stuck],” said Azalea’s mom, Simone, laughing. "She got a few more balls in the hole.”

St. Jude only provides first names of patients and their family members.

Azalea was diagnosed with a soft tissue cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma in November 2015. While their insurance back home in Jamaica could not cover the illness, St. Jude housed Azalea and her family during her treatment. Azalea, who is now 9 years old, was ecstatic to get back on the course.

Just prior to the event’s start at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Maelin-Kate ran from the putting green to greet her friend, hugging her. The two have known each other for many years, with both participating in golf-related St. Jude awareness events in the past, but are rarely able to see each other now that they are both healthy and back at home.

The FedEx St. Jude Championship is Thursday-Sunday at TPC Southwind.

Maelin-Kate, who is also 9 years old, was adopted from China in 2017. Her parents had full knowledge that their child had some medical needs including hip dysplasia, but she was soon diagnosed with Fanconi anemia, which can develop into leukemia. She received the first-ever Fanconi anemia bone marrow transplant at St. Jude, and today is living happy and healthy.

“St. Jude is life-changing,” Maelin-Kate’s mom, Megan, said. “It saved her life, and it’s saving and curing so many children around the world and we’re so grateful that we get to do fun things like this because she’s healthy now.”

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Maelin-Kate’s mom said her daughter got some good golfing practice at Memphis’ Putt-Putt prior to her lesson today.

“We’re gonna go back too, like she’s not done,” she said, laughing. “She loves mini-golf, she loves golf in general, she thinks she’s a golfer I guess. But she loves it, so that’s great.”

Azalea’s mom agreed that St. Jude changed their lives.

“I say this all the time, St. Jude actually gave Azalea her life back,” she said. “The surgery that she did at St. Jude was the first of its kind ever done in the United States, and just to see her out here doing regular things that kids are supposed to do, it just makes our hearts happy that she's able to grow up, and be a regular kid.

Both PGA golfers said their experience with the kids will stay with them throughout the tournament.

“It’s definitely going to be on my mind throughout the rounds,” English said. “This is a big tournament for us but it means a lot more, especially having these kids out here, and it’s a lot bigger cause than what we’re playing for.”

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English said he’ll definitely have the bracelet which Maelin-Kate made for him and Montgomery on his bag through the tournament. “Hopefully I can have her attitude out there, she has the best attitude I’ve ever seen.”

Montgomery agreed. He said he was surprised at how well Azalea did. “Just seeing the smile on the kids' faces [was the best],” he said. “It was really cool to see how happy they are. I think us as players put a lot of stress on [golf tournaments], but when you come see an event like this, a golf tournament is not a big deal.”

Jacob Wilt is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal. You can reach him at jacob.wilt@commercialappeal.com.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: St. Jude patients putt around with PGA players ahead of Memphis event