Kang in position for first major
Shares lead with Choi after a 68 in 3rd round at Olympia Fields
OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. — Danielle Kang got a text message Saturday morning from Wayne Gretzky. Caitlyn Jenner called Friday, and four-time major winner Hollis Stacy also reached out.
Lots of high-profile support for Kang as she goes for her firstmajor championship.
Kang, 24, and Chella Choi shared the lead entering the final round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Kang won the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 2010 in 2011, but she has never won an LPGA Tour tournament.
“It would be incredible to be called a major champion, especially out on this tour,” Kang said.
She got a boost before her afternoon tee time when Gretzky, like Jenner, a friend from her days at Sherwood Country Club in California, passed along a simple message.
“He said, ‘Just go win it,’” Kang recalled. “And you know, I was like, ‘It’s third round.’ And I was like, ‘Thank you, Wayne.’ And he’s like, ‘You just go, get it done.’ Caitlyn Jenner called me yesterday. I have a lot of people just beyond that, just calling me up and encouraging me to just keep playing my game and that they are rooting for me. I love it.”
While several of the LPGA’s biggest stars challenged for the lead, it was Kang and Choi on top after a challenging day at an increasingly difficult Olympia Fields. Choi, 26, hit 11 of 14 fairways on her way to a bogey-free 67.
Kang birdied the par-5 18th for a 68, joining Choi at 10 under and setting up an unlikely final pairing for the fourth round.
“I feel very good right now,”Choi said. “My shot and my putting, very good before last couple weeks. So I have a confidence and, you know, like my father’s come back to here, so I’m very excited to work with my dad and he give mea lot of confidence.”
Choi’s father, Ji Yeon Choi, is caddying for her again after her play suffered when he retired after her only LPGA Tour victory in the2015 Marathon Classic.
“I played bad, so my mom tell to my dad, ‘ Go help Chella, why are you staying here?’ ” Chella Choi said.
Jiyai Shin rocketed up the leader board with a 64, the best round of the day and good enough for third all by herself at 8 under. Defending champion Brooke Henderson was another stroke back after a 69, and Amy Young and Sei Young Kim were tied for fifth at 6 under.
Kangand Kim were tied for the lead after the second round.While Kim stumbled to a 72, Kang had five birdies and twobogeys.
She saved par with a perfect bunker shot on No. 12 and then birdied the par-4 14th to get to 10 under for the first time. She gave a shot back with just her second bogey of the tournament on 16, but recovered with another nice bunker shot to set up her closing birdie.
“I’ve been working on my game every day to get better,” Kang said. “Like I said previously, all I could do is work on my game and hope that every day, just chip away at your game and it gets better every day and that’s where it’s getting at. Every year, I’ve just been performing better. I have trust in my own game.”
Lexi Thompson ( 69), world No. 1 So Yeon Ryu (71) and Michelle Wie (70) were in a group at 5 under. Thompson contended for the first major title of the year, but was penalized for a controversial rules violation and lost to Ryu in a playoff in the ANA Inspiration.
“I was swinging it well all day,” Thompson said. “It was just all a matter of the putts going in. I felt like I stroked it a lot better today. But I hit it very solid, so a lot of positives to take from today into tomorrow.”