The Power and Connection Between Celine Boutier and Evelyn King-White at the ShopRite LPGA
By Sam Prince
GALLOWAY, N.J. - After nearly 1,000 days since her last LPGA tournament win, Celine Boutier won the 2026 ShopRite LPGA powered by Wakefern, her second ShopRite LPGA victory.
The now two-time Shoprite LPGA winner had a little extra motivation to get her seventh LPGA tournament victory. This morning, ahead of round 3, she met with an 11-year-old girl named Evelyn King-White, who is overcoming leukemia. Her wish was to meet her idol and talk golf with her. The Maryland native plays golf for First Tee of Greater Baltimore.
"It definitely felt very heartwarming to see her on the course and watching me after I had the chance to meet her." Boutier said, "I definitely feel like we had a little bit of connection there. Seeing her at the end as well was super cool."
Boutier has had her fair share of work in the community. Back home, she’s an ambassador of Make-A-Wish France. She felt the power of Evelyn's presence and was taken aback that she was her idol.
"It's such a cool way to give back and be able to grant those wishes to children in need,” Boutier said, “So I think that's a very cool initiative, and I was very humbled to see also and honored to have that opportunity today.”
Before coming to Seaview, Evelyn rang the bell at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, signaling a sense of hope that her leukemia days could be behind her in the near future. This is one of the first weeks that she's feeling like a normal kid again.
When King-White was in her darkest times, she knew that there would be light at the end of the tunnel. For her, she finally saw the light today when she met her favorite golfer. Her family and friends were by her side when she met Boutier, and they fought back tears watching the interaction between the two earlier today. Her father, Ryan King-White, knows exactly how much this moment meant to his daughter.
"It's been a long five and a half months. Just seeing how she has been so strong the whole time and seeing her be able to celebrate being at the end of treatment…this has been quite a nice reward at the end of it," said Ryan.
Shortly after the two golfers shared a few words, Boutier shared the news with Evelyn that her family is getting an all-expenses-paid trip to Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla. The family will stay at the Give Kids The World Village in Kissimmee.
Through the friends at the Adventure Ted Challenge, they were able to make King-White's dreams come true by meeting Boutier. The Childhood Cancer Society is paying for the entire expenses of the trip.
The Adventure Ted Challenge aims to support families that are affected by childhood cancer. They help pay for the medical costs, give the families an environment for hope and more.
Her teammates at the First Tee of Baltimore, the Adventure of Ted, the Childhood Cancer Society and the ShopRite LPGA powered by Wakefern all teamed up for Evelyn to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel from uncertain times. Evelyn and Celine both received a victory today that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.
