Aug 26, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Xander Schauffele plays his shot from the fourth tee during the third round of the TOUR Championship golf tournament at East Lake Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports/ File photo
(Reuters) - Players competing in the season-opening PGA Tour event in Maui this week said they hope to raise awareness and money for the Hawaiian island still reeling from last year's devastating wildfires.
More than 114 people perished after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century ripped through the historic resort city of Lahaina in August.
"I'm super happy that the Tour was allowed to play," Xander Schauffele, who lived on the island of Kauai as an infant, told reporters ahead of The Sentry tournament.
"I think everyone's been relatively sensitive coming in and everyone is trying to do the right thing. I'm hoping the event can generate a lot of awareness and bring some eyeballs on what happened and hopefully raise enough money."
Schauffele described the fallout he saw as he drove in from the airport as "brutal."
"You don't really believe it until you see it," he said.
Officials estimate it will cost more than $5 billion to rebuild.
Collin Morikawa this week spent time at Hua Momona Farms to spotlight their work preparing food to impacted families and said he would donate $2,000 for every birdie and $4,000 for every eagle he makes, money that will be matched by Adidas.
"So I've got a lot of birdies and eagles hopefully in my future," he said.
The warm and welcoming spirit of the Hawaiian people helped inspire him to back the Hawaii Community Foundation, one of several relief organizations the PGA Tour has promoted in the lead-up to the tournament.
"Every time I've been able to come to Hawaii you have this culture of family," he said.
"Everyone always gives back ... and that's what I want to do for this community.
"They have been through a lot of hardship over the past handful of months and to know that you're able to help out just building some boxes of food for them, giving back some money to help the foundation here ... that's really important for me."
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Sonali Paul)
