DANIELLE KANG

Danielle took a quantum leap in her amateur standing in 2010. She enrolled in Pepperdine University in January after graduating from high school early. She made several lists naming her one of the top college players in the country. That year she also qualified for the US Women's Open and was one of only six amateurs to make the cut.

Later that summer, Danielle played in the 2010 US Women's Amateur, where she made it all the way to the final match, then stunned the favorite Jessica Korda to win the Cox Trophy. She later joined Korda to represent the US at the Women's World Amateur Championship, where they finished second to South Korea.

Thanks to her status as Women's Amateur champ, Kang got a chance to play in all four LPGA Majors in 2011. She made the cut in three of them, and was the low amateur at the Women's British Open when she finished tied for 49th. A few weeks later, she returned to defend her title at the 2011 Women's Amateur. She relentlessly worked her way through the field, only running into serious competition in the semifinal match, which she won 1 up on the final hole. In the final, she demolished promising Thai junior Moriya Jutanugarn to repeat as champion, the first woman to win back to back Women's Amateur titles in 15 years.

She turned pro immediately after that and played in her first event as a pro, the WalMart NW Arkansas Championship, where she missed the cut. In the Fall, she played at Q-School, but struggled, barely gaining the lowest tour status for 2012.

Despite her bad tour status, Danielle had a fairly good rookie season. She made over $230,000 to easily gain full status for 2013. She was nowhere near So Yeon Ryu in the Rookie of the Year race, but still had her moments. Her best tournament was the Kingsmill Championship, where she contended for much of the week, shot her career best round, and finished third, just out of the playoff for the title. Her last shot of the year came at the CME Titleholders, when she dunked her approach shot for eagle. Not a bad way to finish her first professional season!

Danielle's second year on tour was pretty much like her first: she had one top ten, finished just a little worse on the money list (57th with around $221,000 made), and had a slightly better scoring average. But she was derailed quite a bit during the season when her father was unexpectedly diagnosed with cancer. He died late in the year.

Danielle had another typical season in 2014: 51st on the money list, but with two top fives as her best finishes. She also had her best year moneywise, with over $316,000 made. But the most memorable thing she did in 2014 was make holes-in-one at back-to-back tournaments on the Asian swing, both times winning cars! She wound up with 3 aces during the year, but the third one did not win an automobile (if it had, she'd need a bigger garage!).

Danielle's 2015 season was slightly worse than 2014, but she had a slightly better scoring average. She had only one top ten all year, and that was a tie for 5th at the Pure Silk Bahamas early in the year. She made about $292,000 all year, and finished 62nd on the money list.

Danielle had her best season yet in 2016. She improved her best season scoring average by more than half a stroke, and set personal records for most money earned (over half a million dollars) and money list position (36th). She had three top tens during the year, with her best finish a tie for 4th at the Australian Women's Open.

2017 was by far Danielle's best season yet. Although she missed a fair number of cuts, she also produced 6 top tens, her most ever in a single season. But her best result by far came at the year's second Major, which she won. It was unexpected considering she had missed the cut the previous week, then would not make another cut until the Evian in September. It was her first career win, and couldn't have come at a better time!

Danielle wound up making more than a million dollars for the year, twice her previous season best, and finished 17th on the money list, also her career best. She also had a great performance at the Solheim Cup, where her cheerleading on the first tee became famous. She also nearly won the Sime Darby in Malaysia, finishing second.

Danielle had an even better season in 2018, although she had a few stretches where she struggled with making cuts. Even with those moments, she managed to make 8 top tens, her most ever in a season, and over $1.1 million, another best. Her money list position of 11th was also her career best.

The highlight of her year came late: she nearly won the KEB Hana Bank, finishing tied for 3rd, then won in Shanghai the following week for her second career win. She also had a 4th place finish at the US Women's Open, and nearly won the HSBC until Michelle Wie made a long birdie on the final hole to grab a surprise win; Danielle finished second.

Danielle also played for the LPGA team at the OrangeLife Champions Trophy team event. She teamed with In Gee Chun for a win in round one and, playing with her good friend So Yeon Ryu in round 2, managed a tie. She lost her singles match against KLPGA bomber A Lim Kim in round 3.

2019 was Danielle's best season yet. She set new records in money earned (over $1.5 million), money list position (9th, her first time in the top ten), and scoring average (her average of 70.07 obliterated her previous best). She also had 11 top tens, a new record, which included a win, three seconds and a third. Danielle's great play allowed her to rise as high as 4th in the world rankings.

Her win came late in the season at the Buick LPGA Shanghai in defense of her title. The following week, she put herself into contention to win again, this time at the BMW Championship in Korea. She roared to a solid lead in the final round, but KLPGA star Ha Na Jang caught her and beat her in a three-hole playoff.

Danielle also played at the OrangeLife Champions Trophy for the LPGA team. She lost when teamed with Inbee Park against Hye Jin Choi and Hee Jeong Lim, and squared her match with Amy Yang against Ye Rim Choi and Chae Youn Park. She had a rematch of her BMW playoff against Ha Na Jang in the singles, but Jang beat her here, too, by a margin of 2 & 1.

Danielle also played on the American team at the Solheim Cup, but had a losing record, 1-3-0.

In 2020, the whole world was rocked by the Covid-19 pandemic. The LPGA and KLPGA tours canceled and postponed many tournaments. Danielle had two good starts before the pandemic, including a 3rd at the Gainbridge LPGA. When she returned to action in late July, however, she had an incredible run, winning the Drive On Championship and Marathon Classic in back-to-back weeks. To be fair, she probably lucked into the second win: Lydia Ko was far ahead on Sunday and should have won, but made a bunch of surprising errors coming in, handing the win to Kang.

After those two wins, Kang rose to #2 in the world rankings, with her eyes set on #1, but she cooled off after that and wound up #5 by the end of the year. It was still a fabulous year: she finished 4th on the money list, her all time best, and had five top tens, including two wins, a third and a runner-up. She also won the Vare Trophy for low scoring average; it was her first post-season award. Her average of 70.08 was actually fourth in the league, but the three players ahread of her all did not play enough rounds to qualify: the minimum required was 48, and Kang just made that, playing 49.

Danielle had another great year in 2021, although not quite as strong as 2020. She did not win, but had a runner-up and nine total top tens. She earned a little over $900,000, 18th on the money list. She also played in the Olympics, where she finished tied for 20th. She also was part of the Solheim Cup team. The Americans lost to the Europeans again. Kang won one team match, lost the other two, and lost in singles.

Danielle started 2022 strong, winning her first event, the Tournament of Champions, and finishing second at the next one, the Gainsbridge. She played well through March, but had to drop out of a few events after that and seemed to struggle, perhaps with injuries, through the summer. In Arkansas in late September, she returned to form, finishing second, and pulled off a tie for third a few weeks after that. All in all, it was a great year for her: a win, two seconds, a third, and seven total top tens in a year where she didn't play as many events as many others. She earned over a million dollars and finished 25th on the money list for 2022.

2023 was an off year for Kang. She earned just $459,000 for the year, 61st on the money list. She had three top tens with her best finish a tie for third at the HSBC Women's World Championship. She was also on the International Crown team for the first time this year. The US made it into the final four, but fell to eventual champion Thailand in the semifinals. She also played the Solheim Cup, where she accumulated a 2-2-0 record, including a singles win over Charley Hull. The teams ended up tying, which allowed Europe to retain the Cup.