The list of past ANA Inspiration champions is legendary — Mickey Wright, Judy Rankin, Kathy Whitworth, Nancy Lopez, Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa, Dottie Pepper, Karrie Webb, to name a few. It’s just one reason why Danielle Kang and the rest of the 119-player field greatly respect this major championship and the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club, nestled in the Coachella Valley between the San Jacinto Mountains.
“This is like our Masters, right? There is so much history here. I know that sometimes people talk about Augusta being Augusta, but for us Dinah Shore is Dinah Shore,” said Kang, the 2017 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winner. “It’s the history that makes the golf tournament. All the great players, all the great women that played here before us have left the tradition for us. To be part of that is pretty amazing.”
Kang flashed a great desire to etch her name into ANA Inspiration lore when she spoke with media on Wednesday, giving insight into a conversation she recently had with the great Inbee Park.
“I don’t think many people know she’s literally like my older sister, my adopted mom. I joke around that I’m an adopted child of her and her husband,” Kang said with a laugh. “She actually asked me earlier this year, ‘What major do you want to win?’ And I told her that I want to win the ANA Inspiration. She goes, ‘You do that. You need to win that one. It is something you should win because it’s pretty amazing.’
“What it would mean to me is just, I don’t know. I can’t really put it into words. I could imagine. There is always an imagination of what my goals and achievements [would feel like]. When that day comes, I’ll let you know.”
Kang opens play Thursday at 12:44 p.m. PT off the No. 1 tee alongside 2020 U.S. Women’s Open champion A Lim Kim and Jennifer Kupcho.
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