Danielle Kang battled it out with Lydia Ko on the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio on Sunday, trading and tying for the lead throughout the final round. Entering the day two shots back at -9, Kang went as low as -13 and headed to the 13th tee with the outright lead. Despite a valiant effort, including a missed birdie opportunity on the final hole to force a playoff, Kang earned her 49th career top-10 (her 11th since the beginning of last season) and her eighth runner-up performance on the LPGA Tour.
“Even the last hole, that was a really great shot into that pin. Hit a great putt. Didn't break. There -- the greens are really tough to read out here. I don't think I putted bad. Might seem like it because I'm putting all the time,” said Kang. “The three-footers were really hard for me here because keeps sitting into a hole, and I've already hit two putts in a hole and it bounced out and didn't even hit the cup.”
Kang is now -29 in eight LPGA Tour rounds this year, with seven of the eight in the 60s. The six-time Tour winner, who credits trusting her process from week to week, will now look ahead to next week at Crown Colony Golf & Country Club at the LPGA Drive On Championship, an event she won back in 2020 when hosted at Inverness Club.
“It's not about just winning this week or winning last week. It's basically the quality of golf that I want to be better. I want to be able to compete and contend in the tournaments that I compete in basically,” said Kang. “And then, yeah, I'm just excited for the year. I'm excited for a lot of the teams that are building me up to be the best that I can be.”
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