Midway through the 10th anniversary of the "Morgan and Friends" charity tournament to raise money to fight cancer, Morgan Pressel looked around the room and asked how many people were there for the first event at St. Andrews County Club in her hometown of Boca Raton, Florida.
"Half the room raised their hands," Pressel said Tuesday.
Even more touching was the number of people who still remember her mother, Kathryn Krickstein Pressel, who died 15 years ago of breast cancer.
The event concluded Monday with the Morgan Pressel Foundation raising more than $1 million for the second straight year, bringing the total to more than $6.5 million since Pressel first started the tournament with a determined effort to stop the disease that took her mother.
Among the players who donated their time again were Paula Creamer, Lydia Ko, Gerina Piller, Lexi Thompson and Brittany Lincicome. The newcomers this year were Women's PGA champion Brooke Henderson and Bernhard Langer, the two-time Masters champion who still is beating everyone on the PGA Tour Champions.
Nicole Castrale, a former LPGA Tour player forced into retirement by back injuries, was the guest host.
As much success as the event has had, and as successful as it has been raising money for cancer, Pressel never takes it for granted. One day removed, she was still emotional talking about the support.
"We work so hard all year to put it together just for everybody to have a great time and enjoy it and come together for the community," she said. "Until breast cancer is no more, and still other cancers, I'll keep fighting as long as I can. It's a huge passion project for me to honor my mother and not let breast cancer affect other families."
Pressel, who won the Kraft Nabisco Championship at 18 to become the youngest LPGA major champion at the time, wasn't sure what to expect when she started "Morgan and Friends" and still gets overwhelmed by the amount of money raised. That remains the highlight of the two-day tournament.
"When everyone has come in from golf, and they've had a wonderful day and gotten to meet all the professionals, when they present the check, it's always the most emotional for me," she said. "I lose it every time. In the pictures, my face is always red as a beet. It just astounds me."