The start of Danielle Kang’s 2023 Solheim Cup week was the stuff of nightmares. Though she arrived on time for the biennial tournament between the United States and Europe, her clubs did not. They had somehow missed their connection out of Amsterdam to Spain. Finally, on Wednesday, her clubs appeared.

?????????????????????????? THANK YOU EVERYONE THAT HELPED https://t.co/0bMqXZ56LI

— Danielle Kang (@daniellekang) September 20, 2023

The ordeal was a stressful start to the week, with Kang putting out pleas for help on social media and her captain Stacy Lewis working behind the scenes to locate the missing bag. A mini-tour player who also happened to be in Spain offered to bring her clubs to Kang so that she had something to play with. Someone found a set of Ping clubs for her to use on Tuesday so she could get out on the course, Finca Cortesin. Kang’s sponsor, Titlelist, hustled to build a back-up set and ship it to her.

But Kang took the chaos in stride.

“I’m just happy everyone else’s arrived,” Kang said while talking to the media on Tuesday. “I can handle the drama. At least I got to play today. I got to test out the golf course. It is what it is. You just kind of roll with the punches. It’s life, it’s golf, you know, it’s OK. I’m here and we’re good (laughing).”

One silver lining was that Kang travels with her putter in a separate bag from the rest of her clubs, and that bag arrived without issue.

Now she has her other 13 clubs, and the bac-kup set of 13 that Titleist sent, and two days to prepare before the first match begins on Friday.

The post Danielle Kang’s Solheim Cup mini-nightmare ends as her missing golf clubs arrive appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Listed under the player-profile sections in the official Solheim Cup programme are each competitor’s best results from 2023. European stalwart Celine Boutier’s, by way of example, takes up six lines and contains three wins, including her major championship victory at the Amundi Evian Championship. On the other side of the transatlantic aisle, America’s Nelly Korda has eight lines of text, detailing a plethora of top-10 finishes as well as a lone victory.

Then there is Lexi Thompson. Under her profile there is only a blank space. Sadly, by saying absolutely nothing, that gap spoke volumes. As has been well-documented, the 28-year-old Floridian has not played anything like her best this season. In fact, she had been a lot closer to her worst, a frustrating state of affairs for a player good enough to win a major title — the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship — while still a teenager.

Needless to say, the numbers are a long way from pretty. In 11 starts on the LPGA this year, Thompson has missed the cut eight times. Of the 28 rounds she has played, in only five has she hit the ball fewer than 70 times. Only eight times has she broken par. Her best finish (and her most recent) is T-19 at the Kroger Queen City Championship earlier this month.

A deeper dive into the statistics makes no more pleasant reading. While Thompson is a respectable 14th in driving distance on the LPGA — always a strength of her game — she is a subterranean 155th in accuracy off the tee. Four times out of 10 she misses the fairway. On every third hole she misses the green in regulation. And in those 28 rounds she averages 30.5 putts for the 18 holes. That places her 133rd on tour in that category.

Things do look a little better when Thompson’s record against the Europeans is taken into account. Her overall record is 6-6-7, made up of 2-3-3 in four-balls, 3-2-1 in foursomes and 1-1-3 in singles. Not bad, but not great either.

All of which added together made it only natural that the world No. 26 (a tribute to the quality of her play before this year) should be asked about her form, or lack of it, coming into her sixth Solheim Cup. It was an obvious question, which received a predictably defiant answer.

“Well, I don’t think match play has anything to do with it,” said Thompson in response to a politely worded inquiry as to whether playing without a card in her hands might make a positive difference to her confidence level this week. “Match play, stroke play, you still have to play your game and golf. But, yeah, this might not have been the year that I wanted, but this is this week. I’m not focusing on the past. I’m here with my team this week and going to represent my best.”

Lexi Thompson and Danielle Kang. Stuart Franklin

Citing the recent struggles of two-time PGA champion Justin Thomas and adding to the “all for one” atmosphere, Thompson’s teammate, Danielle Kang, was quick to chip in with some mildly sarcastic support for her compatriot.

“It’s like Justin said: ‘Any shot, any moment can change your game,’” countered Kang. “Can’t rely on an entire player’s career on just how she’s been playing lately, right?”

Kang didn’t exactly strengthen that argument when, in reference to her own game, she said: “Numbers don’t lie, man. One plus one equals two. I love it. Just keep telling me my stats.”

It is, however, hard to imagine Lexi Thompson feels the same way. Not right now at least.

The post Solheim Cup 2023: Mired in the worst season of her career, what should we expect from Lexi Thompson? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Danielle Kang is the latest victim of lost airline luggage. While the 30-year-old LPGA veteran has made it to Spain for the 2023 Solheim Cup, her golf bag has not. It’s believed to be stuck in Amsterdam, missing its connection, and she put out a plea on social media for someone to get her bag on to the next flight to Malaga:

Hi. I need everyone’s help again. My captain and the entire US Team has been on this but someone PLEASE put my GOLF bag on the next flight out of AMSTERDAM to MALAGA…
it’s missed every flight it could’ve been on today..BAG TAG 0074676649 @transavia flight@SolheimCupUSA ??

— Danielle Kang (@daniellekang) September 18, 2023

This all started on Monday, and the first match is on Friday. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time this season Kang has struggled with airlines getting her bags to her. Last month, Kang dealt with missing bags while traveling to the AIG Women’s Open.

US Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis got into the act as well, trying to help nudge the airline along with a little more social-media pressure.

@Delta @KLM would love some help locating a set of golf clubs… kind of a big tournament going on this week!!! @TheSolheimCup @SolheimCupUSA

— Stacy Lewis (@Stacy_Lewis) September 18, 2023

This will be Kang’s fourth Solheim Cup appearance, making her the second-most experienced player on the US team, with a record of 5-7-0. (Lexi Thompson has played in five Solheim Cups.)

One silver lining is that Kang travels with her putter separate from the rest of her clubs, and that smaller travel case did make it to Spain.

The post Danielle Kang is in Spain for the 2023 Solheim Cup. Her clubs, however, missed their connecting flight appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Danielle Kang was taken to ER on Thursday after withdrawing during the first round of the Drive On Championship. After playing the 14th hole, Kang pulled out of play officially due to illness, according to an LPGA official. The 30-year-old shared more details on her Instagram story in the evening, explaining that had a respiratory infection and severe nausea during play. The post included a photo of an IV in her arm.

“I thought with some medicine I can push through this week but now I see it was a bit too ambitious,” Kang posted.

It’s a road bump amid a solid start to the Kang’s year. She finished T-3 at the HSBC Women’s World Championship at Sentosa, Singapore, in early March, bolstered by a career-best 63 that was fuelled by a new putter she made alongside Scotty Cameron over the off-season. She followed that with a second-place finish at the Ladies European Tour Aramco Team Series event in Singapore.

The Singapore results was the third and fourth times Kang nearly entered the winner’s circle since returning to action last August following a break to recover from complications due to a spinal tumour. She also finished T-3 at the LPGA Mediheal Championship and lost in a playoff at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship to Atthaya Thitikul.

The WD might impact Kang’s chances of representing Team USA at the International Crown. The top four Americans in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings following next week’s DIO Implant event in Los Angeles will play at TPC Harding in early May. Currently, Kang is in the final of four spots for the team at 13th in the world rankings. Jennifer Kupcho is closest to overtaking Kang at 18th and she was tied for 95th after shooting 72 in the first round of the Drive On.

Kang finished her Instagram story sharing she doesn’t expect to be out for long.

“With some rest the next few days, hopefully the nausea will subside and will be back to playing some golf again,” she said.

The post Danielle Kang reveals she’s in the hospital after withdrawing from tournament appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

We are just 18 holes away from discovering the first Aramco Team Series individual title winner of 2023.

France’s Pauline Roussin, South African Nicole Garcia and world No. 8 Danielle Kang lead the way on seven-under, but a whole host of stars are within touching distance, including the Netherland’s Anne Van Dam, Swede Linn Grant and Dubai wonderkid Chiara Noja. Oh, world, No. 1 Lydia Ko is lurking there too, so there is a long way to go.

Here are your Saturday tee times at Laguna National”

8:15 am
Tereza Melecka (CZE)
Lauren Holmey (NED)
8:26 am
Virginia Elena Carta (ITA)
Magdalena Simmermacher (ARG)
8:37 am
Lydia Hall (WAL)
Pia Babnik (SLO)
Sock Hwee Koh (SIN)
8:48 am
Liz Young (ENG)
Kim Metraux (SUI)
Sofie Bringner (SWE)
8:59 am
Nastasia Nadaud (FRA)
Felicity Johnson (ENG)
Emma Grechi (FRA)
9:10 am
Kirsten Rudgeley (AUS)
Anais Meyssonnier (FRA)
Ana Pelaez Trivino (ESP)
9:21 am
Gabriella Cowley (ENG)
Casandra Alexander (RSA)
Annabel Dimmock (ENG)
9:37 am
Hannah Burke (ENG)
Marianne Skarpnord (NOR)
April Angurasaranee (THA)
9:48 am
Lisa Pettersson (SWE)
Emily Kristine Pedersen (DEN)
Caroline Hedwall (SWE)
9:59 am
Amy Boulden (WAL)
Sophie Witt (GER)
Whitney Hillier (AUS)
10:10 am
Nuria Iturrioz (ESP)
Aline Krauter (GER)
Alexandra Forsterling (GER)
10:21 am
Diksha Dagar (IND)
Cara Gainer (ENG)
Johanna Gustavsson (SWE)
10:32 am
Momoka Kobori (NZL)
Patricia Isabel Schmidt (GER)
Christine Wolf (AUT)
10:43 am
Carmen Alonso (ESP)
Olivia Cowan (GER)
Sara Kouskova (CZE)
10:59 am
Michele Thomson (SCO)
Sarah Schober (AUT)
Manon De Roey (BEL)
11:10 am
Trichat Cheenglab (THA)
Eleanor Givens (ENG)
Elin Arvidsson (SWE)
11:21 am
Kaleigh Telfer (RSA)
Agathe Sauzon (FRA)
Chloe Williams (WAL)
11:32 am
Alice Hewson (ENG)
Chiara Noja (GER)
Bronte Law (ENG)
11:43 am
Nicole Broch Estrup (DEN)
Klara Davidson Spilkova (CZE)
Lydia Ko (NZL)
11:54 am
Linn Grant (SWE)
Emma Spitz (AUT)
Anne Van Dam (NED)
12:05 pm
Danielle Kang (USA)
Nicole Garcia (RSA)
Pauline Roussin (FRA)

The post Aramco Team Series — Singapore final round tee times appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

World No. 14 Danielle Kang will feature in the Aramco Team Series – Singapore this week with a refreshed mindset and new outlook on life.

The American heads into the sixth event on a record-breaking Ladies European Tour schedule, and her fourth event of the season, feeling fitter and healthier after taking time off from competitive golf in 2022 due to a spinal tumour.

Kang returns to the Aramco Team Series fold after a sole appearance in New York in 2021 and is excited for the week ahead at Laguna National Golf Resort Club having changed her perspective on the game after her health difficulties.

Related: Five key talking points ahead of ATS Singapore
Your full field for ATS Singapore

“The biggest lesson I learnt is that I’m not trying to base myself as a golfer by the result of how my day ends up,” she said. “Giving you an example: In the HSBC third round, I played probably better than I played the second day and shot 9-under versus 1-under.

“Things like that back in the day would bother me but it didn’t and that’s the kind of the mentality that I had to relearn and I’m going to have to keep practising week in and week out.”

Kang spoke candidly on the health difficulties she faced and added: “Probably the toughest lesson I had to go through was admitting that there’s just been a lot of dramas in my 20s and I didn’t want another factor to affect my journey to be the best that I can be, the best in the world.

“Accepting that challenge was rough for me. I just kind of threw my hands up and said enough was enough. Just been so much stuff in my life that I just didn’t want to deal with, to be honest. Whether that is sickness, to losing family members, just never ending.

“Now this? Are you kidding me? That’s how I felt because it’s battle after battle. But it’s not something I can’t overcome. And that’s something that my mom said to me. If anybody can do it, it’s you, and she’s right. You keep working towards what you want to get to, and you’ll always make it out.”

The 30-year-old competed in February’s ground-breaking Aramco Saudi Ladies International in March and will play for a $1million prize fund on the Ladies European Tour this week.

Kang believes Aramco’s investment into the Ladies European Tour is only a good thing for growing women’s golf adding: “I think to show support playing in Saudi Arabia and these events when we have the $1million this week and especially the $5million purse just a few weeks ago is a big statement, and it’s because there aren’t a lot of, you know, impacts where you can match that purse with the men’s purse, that they also play for.

“Showcasing that kind of change and that dramatic statement is important. It’s nice to see where we’re headed, and sponsors like Aramco showcasing that through their investment in the LET is so important.”

This week’s Aramco Team Series tournament will once again consist of a team and individual event with 26 captains making their picks at a draft-style party this evening. Captains have one individual pick, before being allocated a second professional player and a championship amateur player randomly.

Kang refused to be drawn on who her pick would be but was weighing up the option of choosing a young Ladies European Tour player to complement her team and bring youthful exuberance.

She said: “Lydia (Ko) won’t tell me who her pick is, and I won’t tell her but maybe I’ll just pick a really, really young player and it will be exciting to play!”

The post Danielle Kang sets her mind on Aramco Team Series — Singapore after challenging 2022 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The world No. 17 will appear for the second time in an Aramco Team Series event which will be the sixth event in this year’s LET schedule. Some of the best golfers on the planet are set to feature following Lydia Ko’s confirmation that she will be teeing it up in the middle of March.

RELATED: All systems Ko for Lydia

Kang, a major winner at the Women’s PGA Championship in 2017 and six-time LPGA winner is excited to be featuring in the Aramco Team Series again after extremely positive experiences from her first appearance at Glen Oaks Golf Club in New York in 2021.

“I am really looking forward to playing in Singapore again, and I’ve heard very good things about Laguna National Golf Resort and Club,” she said. “Singapore is one of my absolute favourite places to play in and to visit, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to help showcase the game of golf to all of the great fans here in Asia.

“I’m excited that I get to stay in Asia and play more golf, and to compete in this very interesting format. It’s an added bonus that I’ll already be acclimated to the time zone when I get there. See you all in March!”

Noah Alireza, CEO of Golf Saudi, is delighted to see another of the world’s best players confirmed for Aramco Team Series Singapore and added: “It is brilliant to announce Danielle as the second major star who will be featuring in Singapore.

“Following confirmation that world No. 1 Lydia Ko will be appearing, it is great that another one of the world’s best players will be teeing it up at Laguna National Golf Resort Club in March.

“The Aramco Team Series prides itself on being a world-class golf event offering the world’s best players and incredible environment both on and off the course.”

The post Danielle Kang signs up to join Lydia Ko for Aramco Team Series — Singapore appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Three months later, Kang returned to competition and in her third start back, last weekend’s Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, she made a run at winning her seventh career title, falling in a playoff to teen sensation Atthaya Thitikul. Kang was in tears after the finish, but they were tears of joy.

“I don’t think I’ve ever cried by losing,” said Kang, who shot a final-round 64 that ended with fireworks. Kang holed out a 40-yard chip on the 18th at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Arkansas, for eagle to take the lead at 17-under. She knew it was good the moment she hit it, chasing it up the hill to see where it ended up. Her celebration was huge, fitting for an athlete feeling once again what it’s like to create a moment of greatness after months of wondering if that would ever happen again.

We still can't get over @daniellekang's eagle on 18 that forced a playoff ? pic.twitter.com/pnX5mK5aCI

— LPGA (@LPGA) September 26, 2022

“There was part of me that I didn’t think I would ever play again or contend, but here I am. I’m not that far off and I’m happy about that,” Kang said.

Behind her, Thitikul made birdie on 17 to pull level with Kang. After Thitikul’s par on 18, the two went to a playoff. Thitikul’s birdie on the second playoff hole sealed the 19-year-old Thai rookie’s second LPGA win.

But this loss felt like a win for Kang, too.

Danielle Kang. Icon Sportswire

“Honestly, it’s been hell,” Kang said of her journey through diagnosis and her undisclosed treatment for the tumour.

As to how she got through it and how she continues to manage, Kang gives all credit to the people around her. She’s very close with her family, her brother, Alex, and mother, Grace Lee. Her coach, Butch Harmon, has also been a key component since they began working together in 2018.

“I didn’t persevere. People around me did. I’m just so thankful for that,” Kang said. “Sometimes you have that fear of like: ‘Am I going to play as good again or can I play again or is this … are we at the end?’ All those thoughts crept into my mind. We had to work different ways to hit the shots. It was wild. So, what I did to get here to finish, to even contend is a win for me.”

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The post Danielle Kang lost in LPGA playoff but still pulled off the most inspirational story of the weekend appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

As Kang continues to work with her doctors on a plan, she announced on Instagram that she would take some time off from competitive golf, including three regular LPGA Tour events and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the major she won in 2017.

Now Kang has posted an update on Instagram, saying she will continue to miss tournaments as she and her team work to treat the spinal tumour. She said she will miss another major, the Amundi Evian Championship, and the Scottish Open.

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The post Update: Danielle Kang to miss another major due to spinal tumor appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
During the U.S. Women’s Open, Kang’s brother posted on Instagram some troubling news: His sister was playing the major championship with a tumour in her spine. Kang had withdrawn from the Palos Verdes Championship at the end of April, citing back pain. It wasn’t until the U.S. Women’s Open that news of the tumour was public.

RELATED: Danielle Kang’s brother reveals Danielle has a spinal tumour

As Kang continues to work with her doctors on a plan, she announced on Instagram that she’ll take some time off from competitive golf. In addition to three regular LPGA Tour events, she’ll miss the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the major she won in 2017. That event is scheduled for June 23-26.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Danielle Kang (@daniellekang)

Said Kang in her post: “As a past champion this was not an easy decision, however, if I’ve learned anything from throwing a fit to play in the U.S. Open, I want to compete, not just participate.”

Despite the back pain, Kang made the cut last week at Pine Needles and ultimately tied for 63rd.

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The post Danielle Kang announces she’ll miss events, including KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, due to spinal tumour appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.