AGA NEWS
PATRIOT
ALL-AMERICA INVITATIONAL
This year’s field for the Patriot All-America takes time for a group photo at Luke Air Force Base, and Cindy McCain (below), the widow of former U.S. Sen. John McCain, was the guest speaker.
Players also toured
Luke Air Force Base, with some taking turns in a flight simulator. The event began with an
impressive opening ceremony that featured a flyover of F-35 fighter jets from Luke, a descent by members of the Air Force Wings of Blue parachute team and an emotional appearance by the widow of the late Sen. John McCain. “One thing he always said
was to do the right thing. It might not be the most popular thing, but do the right thing. Do what’s best,” Cindy McCain told the players. “I hope that if you learn
anything from this experience, you learn that your best is important, not only by playing a good game but by playing a fair game that means so much to people around the world. So you should do it at your best and do it with honor. Those things are important and my husband would be the first to tell you to hold your head high and be the best you can be.” One element of the event
is that each golfer carries a bag with the name of a fallen or severely injured military member and those bags later are auctioned, with proceeds going to the families of those soldiers.
www.azgolf.org After her address,
McCain was presented with a golf bag bearing the name John McCain, U.S. Navy Captain. She gasped when she received the bag and, James said “really struggled to keep it together. She obviously was touched.” “That was something that
we really couldn’t ask for and yet it happened,” Gowan said of her appearance. “It was very special and I can’t imagine how hard it was for her to do that. “It was so impactful and
she was right to the point in talking to the players, and I loved how she related John McCain’s thoughts about commitment to what they are doing with their lives. I thought it was very poignant.” Jackson braved rainy,
windy conditions in the final round, with temperatures in the low 40s, shooting even-par 70 to finish at 5-under 205. That gave him a three-shot
victory over Quade Cummins of Oklahoma and Alex Scott of Grand Valley State. Jack Ireland of UCLA set the tourney record by shooting 7-under 63 despite the brutal conditions to finish in a tie for fifth, five shots behind. “Honestly, throughout
the day, I had no idea where
I was at on the leader board,” Jackson said after his wire- to-wire victory. “Coming off 18, everybody started clapping when I made the par putt, so I just assumed I had won. I didn’t know I was in the lead by three.” Jackson said his “hands
went numb” for a four-hole stretch on the front nine but it didn’t stop him from joining a winners list that includes PGA Tour phenom Cameron Champ. The victory includes an exemption to the
Web.Com Tour’s Wichita Open in June. Making it all the more
special, Jackson was playing with the name of his great- grandfather, Willie B.
McGill, who was killed in combat in 1944, on his bag. Ireland’s round of 63
was startling considering the weather, which he called “probably the coldest and toughest conditions I’ve ever played in.” He finished his round
on the front nine with a score of 31, including four straight birdies starting on the fourth hole. “I was just trying to focus
on where I needed to hit it, rather than where not to hit it, and keep it underneath the hole,” Ireland said. It was a theme that held
up well for the eighth edition of the ever-aspiring Patriot All-America Invitational. n
PREVIEW 2019 | AZ GOLF Insider | 29
MICHAEL JORDAN
MICHAEL JORDAN
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