# Danielle Kang

Danielle Grace Kang (born October 20, 1992) is an American professional golfer currently playing on the LPGA Tour. As an amateur, she won the U.S. Women's Amateur twice, in 2010 and 2011. She won the 2017 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, an LPGA major.

## Early life, college and amateur career

Kang was born on October 20, 1992, in San Francisco. She grew up in Southern California, and qualified for the U.S. Women's Open as a 14-year-old in 2007. She began high school at Oak Park High School and later transferred to Westlake High School early to begin college at Pepperdine University in Malibu in the spring of 2010. Kang played extensively as a junior golfer with the Southern California PGA Junior Tour alongside fellow SCPGA alumni such as Lizette Salas and Brianna Do.
Kang played on the Pepperdine golf team through the regular season in the spring of 2011. She was ruled academically ineligible to compete in the 2011 NCAA post-season and stated that she was not disappointed because "Pepperdine is in the past for me. I'm focusing on the future. Turning pro after the U.S. Women's Amateur."
Kang won the U.S. Women's Amateur in 2010 and competed in all four majors as an amateur in 2011. She made the cut in three of the majors, including the LPGA Championship, where she was the only non-professional in the field. Kang was the low amateur at the Women's British Open, finishing in a tie for 49th place. She repeated her win at the U.S. Women's Amateur in 2011 in August to become the first player in 15 years to win consecutive titles.

## Professional career

Kang played her first tournament as a professional at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, in September 2011. She entered on a sponsor's exemption and missed the cut. Kang entered the 2011 LPGA Qualifying School. She survived Stage II, shooting +5 (73-74-71-75=293), just inside the cut line to qualify for the final stage. She finished the final stage, Stage III, of Q-School tied for 39th. This gave her conditional status (Priority List Category 20) on the LPGA Tour for 2012
Kang played 19 events on the LPGA Tour in 2012, making 13 cuts and finishing the season with $239,184 in earnings, putting her 52nd on the official LPGA season-ending money list. This qualified her for full status on the LPGA Tour in 2013.
Kang earned her first LPGA Tour win, 2017 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, in her 144th LPGA Tour start. On October 21, 2018, Kang won the inaugural Buick LPGA Shanghai tournament by two strokes to earn her second career victory. The tournament was held at Qizhong Garden Golf Club in Shanghai, China. In October 2019, Kang repeated as champion of the Buick LPGA Shanghai.
On August 2, 2020, Kang won the LPGA Drive On Championship at Inverness Club in Ohio. This was the LPGA's first tournament back after a six-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One week later, Kang won her 5th LPGA Tour event at the Marathon Classic.
Kang won the 2020 Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average on the LPGA Tour.
On January 23, 2022, Kang won the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Florida.
Kang narrowly missed a rare back-to-back wins starting a new LPGA season, when her longtime friend Lydia Ko beat her by one stroke in the January 27–30 Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio tournament. They were tied at 12-under after the 14th hole in the fourth round, when Ko made a birdie at the 15th to take the lead, and both birdied the 16th; then both parred the final two holes. She earned $184,255 to Ko's $300,000.
Kang stopped playing on the tour after announcing at the end of the 2022 U.S. Women's Open on June 5, she had a tumor on her spine. She returned to competition at the CP Women's Open on August 25, after treatment.

## Personal life

Kang is a Korean-American born to South Korean parents K.S. Kang and Grace Lee. Her brother Alex played golf for San Diego State. In 2018, she began a relationship with professional golfer Maverick McNealy, who also lives in Las Vegas, but this relationship ended in 2021.

## Professional wins (6)
### LPGA Tour wins (6)

* Legend
* LPGA Tour major championships (1)
* Other LPGA Tour (5)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
| 1 | Jul 2, 2017 | KPMG Women's PGA Championship | −13 (69-66-68-68=271) | 1 stroke | Brooke Henderson |
| 2 | Oct 21, 2018 | Buick LPGA Shanghai | −13 (67-68-71-69=275) | 2 strokes | Marina Alex, Brittany Altomare Ariya Jutanugarn, Kim Sei-young Lydia Ko, Liu Wenbo Annie Park |
| 3 | Oct 20, 2019 | Buick LPGA Shanghai (2) | −16 (69-67-66-70=272) | 1 stroke | Jessica Korda |
| 4 | Aug 2, 2020 | LPGA Drive On Championship | −7 (66-73-70=209) | 1 stroke | Céline Boutier |
| 5 | Aug 9, 2020 | Marathon Classic | −15 (64-67-70-68=269) | 1 stroke | Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Lydia Ko |
| 6 | Jan 23, 2022 | Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions | −16 (68-67-69-68=272) | 3 strokes | Brooke Henderson |
LPGA Tour playoff record (0–3)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponents | Result |
| 1 | 2019 | BMW Ladies Championship | Jang Ha-na | Lost to birdie on third extra hole |
| 2 | 2021 | Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions | Jessica Korda | Lost to birdie on first extra hole |
| 3 | 2022 | Walmart NW Arkansas Championship | Atthaya Thitikul | Lost to birdie on second extra hole |

## Major championships
### Wins (1)

| Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | Margin | Runner-up |
| 2017 | Women's PGA Championship | Tied for lead | −13 (69-66-68-68=271) | 1 stroke | Brooke Henderson |

### Results timeline

Results not in chronological order.
| ! Tournament | 2007 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Chevron Championship | | | CUT | | CUT | T61 | T26 | T26 | T47 | CUT | T6 | T11 |
| Women's PGA Championship | | | T50 | CUT | T22 | T25 | CUT | T46 | 1 | T33 | T5 | T33 |
| U.S. Women's Open | CUT | 64 | T68 | T14 | CUT | T59 | T47 | T17 | CUT | 4 | CUT | T52 |
| The Evian Championship ^ | | | | | T31 | CUT | T59 | T30 | T18 | CUT | CUT | NT |
| Women's British Open | | | T49 | CUT | T42 | CUT | T56 | CUT | CUT | CUT | T41 | T32 |
| ! Tournament | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Chevron Championship | 13 | T17 | T28 | CUT |
| U.S. Women's Open | T35 | T63 | CUT | T51 |
| Women's PGA Championship | T5 | | T39 | CUT |
| The Evian Championship | | | CUT | |
| Women's British Open | CUT | | T69 | |
^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013.
CUT = missed the half-way cut NT = no tournament T = tied

### Summary

| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
| Chevron Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 9 |
| U.S. Women's Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 11 |
| Women's PGA Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 10 |
| The Evian Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 |
| Women's British Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 6 |
| Totals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 62 | 40 |
* Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (2020 ANA – 2021 WPGA)
* Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (five times)

## LPGA Tour career summary

| Year | Tournaments played | Cuts made* | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top 10s | Best finish | Earnings ($) | Money list rank | Scoring average | Scoring rank |
| 2007 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | MC | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 2011 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T49 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 2012 | 19 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | T3 | 239,184 | 52 | 72.39 | 50 |
| 2013 | 24 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | T5 | 221,649 | 57 | 72.18 | 54 |
| 2014 | 27 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | T5 | 316,239 | 51 | 72.46 | 82 |
| 2015 | 26 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | T5 | 292,579 | 62 | 71.72 | 44 |
| 2016 | 27 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | T4 | 505,316 | 36 | 71.12 | 31 |
| 2017 | 25 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1,005,983 | 17 | 71.05 | 42 |
| 2018 | 25 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1,135,441 | 11 | 70.85 | 27 |
| 2019 | 21 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 1,511,443 | 9 | 70.07 | 13 |
| 2020 | 13 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 897,872 | 4 | 70.08 | 4 |
| 2021 | 21 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 902,244 | 18 | 69.83 | 10 |
| 2022 | 18 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1,039,239 | 25 | 69.72 | 9 |
| 2023 | 20 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | T3 | 459,154 | 61 | 71.47 | 73 |
| 2024 | 19 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T20 | 82,043 | 143 | 73.52 | 157 |
| Totals^ | 291 | 221 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 57 | 1 | 8,608,386 | 39 | | |
^ Official as of 2024 season * Includes matchplay and other events without a cut.

## World ranking

Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.
| Year | Ranking |
| 2010 | 404 |
| 2011 | 341 |
| 2012 | 106 |
| 2013 | 97 |
| 2014 | 111 |
| 2015 | 98 |
| 2016 | 68 |
| 2017 | 21 |
| 2018 | 18 |
| 2019 | 4 |
| 2020 | 5 |
| 2021 | 11 |
| 2022 | 16 |
| 2023 | 48 |
| 2024 | 263 |

## U.S. national team appearances

Amateur
* Espirito Santo Trophy: 2010
Professional
* Solheim Cup: 2017 (winners), 2019, 2021, 2023
* International Crown: 2023

### Solheim Cup record

| Year | Total matches | Total W–L–H | Singles W–L–H | Foursomes W–L–H | Fourballs W–L–H | Points won | Points % |
| Career | 16 | 7–9–0 | 2–2–0 | 3–4–0 | 2–3–0 | 7 | 43.8 |
| 2017 | 4 | 3–1–0 | 1–0–0 def. E. Pedersen 3&1 | 1–1–0 won w/ L. Salas 1 up, lost w/ M. Wie 2&1 | 1–0–0 won w/ M. Wie 3&1 | 3 | 75.0 |
| 2019 | 4 | 1–3–0 | 0–1–0 lost to C. Ciganda 1 up | 0–1–0 lost w/ M. Khang 4&3 | 1–1–0 lost w/ L. Salas 4&2, won w/ L. Salas 2&1 | 1 | 25.0 |
| 2021 | 4 | 1–3–0 | 0–1–0 lost to E. Pedersen 1 dn | 1–1–0 lost w/ A. Ernst 1 dn won w/ A. Ernst 1 up | 0–1–0 lost w/ A. Ernst 3&2 | 1 | 25.0 |
| 2023 | 4 | 2-2-0 | 1-0-0 def. C. Hull 4&2 | 1-1-0 won w/ A. Lee 1 up lost w/ A. Lee 1 dn | 0-1-0 lost w/ L. Vu 2&1 | 2 | 50.0 |