Kang dials up a winner
Advice from Annika produces a crown
TOLEDO, Ohio — In the winter months, after Danielle Kang won the Buick LPGA Shanghai, had 11 top 10s, including two in major championships, and pocketed $1,500,000 in winnings, she picked up the phone and dialed perhaps the greatest female golfer of all time, Annika Sorenstam.
Her message: Be aggressive and keep your foot on the gas.
The student listened to the teacher Sunday at Inverness Club.
Entering the final round of the LPGA Drive on Championship in a three-way tie, Kang took aim at tucked pins and never looked back, shooting a Sunday-best 2-under 70 in bizarre weather conditions — wind, rain, and brilliant sunshine — to beat Celine Boutier by one shot in a wireto-wire victory.
“The game plan was to play aggressive and play my game,” Kang said. “I wanted to make sure that I gave myself birdie opportunities.”
The victory is the fourth of Kang’s career, marking the fourth consecutive year she has won on the LPGA Tour. It came in a match-play type format against France’s Boutier, giving television viewers and the Inverness members on the patio near the 18th green a preview of the 2021 Solheim
“I didn’t actually think about that,” Kang said. “I was focused on them as stroke-play players and I wanted to know exactly where they were at. I didn’t look at it as a match play because I still need to play the course.”
Kang, Boutier (71), and Jodi Ewart Shadoff (75) of England, each members of the 2019 Solheim Cup, began the round tied at 5 under and paired in the final group. After birdies on No. 2 and No. 4, Kang surged to the outright lead, where she stayed, except for the 15th hole when Kang and Boutier were tied at 7 under.
Boutier bogeyed No. 15 and missed a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th that would have forced a playoff.
“Hopefully, I just learn from this and take it for experience for the next time I get the chance to play for the win,” she said.
The top five were the only players to finish the tournament under par — Kang at 7 under, Boutier at 6 under, Australian Minjee Lee (70) finished third at 4 under, Japan’s Yui Kawamoto (72) was fourth at 3 under, and Ewart Shadoff was fifth at 2 under.
Kang, the fourth-ranked player in the world, did not three-putt all week. But it was her wedge game that world-class instructor Butch Harmon wasn’t happy with. The duo spent countless hours working together at Harmon’s Henderson, Nev., golf school during the COVID-19 quarantine period.
Days started at 5 a.m. and went into the afternoon in the blazing Nevada sun. Kang and Harmon would see each other every day of the week at times, take a break, and then continue their lengthy practice sessions.
“I really appreciate everything that he does for me on and off the golf course, as a person, as a coach, mentor, and everything that he is,” Kang said. “I’m really thankful that he’s in my life. I’m grateful. His time is so valuable, but he spends a lot of time with me working on a lot of different things. You never stop learning from him, and I think that’s what’s the greatest thing about Butch Harmon. He’s so knowledgeable on things that you don’t even think that you know.”
The LPGA Tour now moves to Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio, for the Marathon Classic presented by Dana.