Kang shares the lead following 2nd round Six-year pro setting sights on earning first major victory
OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. — Danielle Kang won back-toback majors as an amateur yet she has never cracked the winner’s circle in her half-dozen years as a pro.
Kang, 24, of California, took a big step in the right direction, grabbing a share of the second-round lead in the morning wave Friday at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Her biggest hurdle could well be coleader Sei Young Kim, the LPGA Tour’s 2015 Rookie of the Year and already a sixtime winner on tour.
Kang and Kim each shot 5-under 66 to reach 7-under 135.
First-round leader Amy Yang (71), Chella Choi (70), Brittany Lincicome (66), Jodi Ewart Shadoff (66) and Mi Hyang Lee (67) were another stroke back.
So Yeon Ryu (68), who climbed to No. 1 in the world ranking after a victory last week and won the LPGA Tour’s first major of the season, was at 5 under, along with defending champion Brooke Henderson (69), Moriya Jutanugarn (68) and Sarah Jane Smith (67).
Lydia Ko shot 68 to put herself back in contention at 4 under. Michelle Wie also was 4 under, following her opening 68 with a 70.
Kang, the U.S. Women’s Amateur champion in 201011, conceded she didn’t have a game plan after her final practice round at Olympia Fields Country Club, one of several venues that previously played host to men’s majors now being tested by the women.
“I kind of was super-overwhelmed and didn’t know what to do,” she said. “So I called my brother, Alex, of course.”
Alex Kang, who plies his trade on the Web.com Tour, was familiar with Olympia Fields and its bunkers, and he gave her some simple advice. “He goes, ‘ Just blast it down,’ ” she recalled. The plan worked as Kang, relying on her driver, hit 11 of 14 fairways and hasn’t made a bogey through 36 holes.
Kim carved her path up the leader board with a closing flourish, making three birdies in her last five holes. They came on the tougher front-nine side, though players caught a break as the swirling wind that made club selection dicey Thursday subsided in round two.
“Fortunately, when I tee off a little less windy,” Kim said, “so I was able to attack the pin.”