Danielle Kang


Danielle Grace Kang is an American professional golfer currently playing on the LPGA Tour. As an amateur, she won the U.S. Women's Amateur twice, in 2010 and 2011. She won the 2017 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, an LPGA major. She also has two other LPGA tournament wins, both at the Buick LPGA Shanghai in China.

College and amateur career

Born in San Francisco, Kang grew up in Southern California, and qualified for the U.S. Women's Open as a 14-year-old in 2007. She began high school at Oak Park High School and later transferred to Westlake High School early to begin college at Pepperdine University in Malibu in the spring of 2010. Kang played extensively as a junior golfer with the Southern California PGA Junior Tour alongside fellow SCPGA alumni such as Lizette Salas and Brianna Do.
She played on the Pepperdine golf team through the regular season in the spring of 2011. She was ruled academically ineligible to compete in the 2011 NCAA post-season and stated that she was not disappointed because "Pepperdine is in the past for me. I'm focusing on the future. Turning pro after the U.S. Women's Amateur."
Kang won the U.S. Women's Amateur in 2010 and competed in all four majors as an amateur in 2011. She made the cut in three of the majors, including the LPGA Championship, where she was the only non-professional in the field. Kang was the low amateur at the Women's British Open, finishing in a tie for 49th place. She repeated her win at the U.S. Women's Amateur in 2011 in August to become the first player in 15 years to win consecutive titles.

Professional career

Kang played her first tournament as a professional at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, in September 2011. She entered on a sponsor's exemption and missed the cut. Kang entered the 2011 LPGA Qualifying School. She survived Stage II, shooting +5, just above the cut line to qualify for the final stage. She finished the final stage, Stage III, of Q-School tied for 39th. This gave her conditional status on the LPGA Tour for 2012
She played 19 events on the LPGA Tour in 2012, making 13 cuts and finishing the season with $239,184 in earnings, putting her 52nd on the official LPGA season-ending money list. This qualified Kang for full status on the LPGA Tour in 2013.
Kang earned her first LPGA Tour win, 2017 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, in her 144th LPGA Tour start. On October 21, 2018, Kang won the inaugural Buick LPGA Shanghai tournament by two strokes to earn her second career victory. The tournament was held at Qizhong Garden Golf Club in Shanghai, China. In October 2019, Kang repeated as champion of the Buick LPGA Shanghai.

Personal life

Kang is a Korean-American born in San Francisco, California, to South Korean parents K.S. Kang and Grace Lee. Her brother Alex played golf for San Diego State. She began a relationship with Web.com player Maverick McNealy, who also lives in Las Vegas.

Professional wins (3)

LPGA Tour wins (3)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1Jul 2, 2017KPMG Women's PGA Championship−13 1 stroke Brooke Henderson
2Oct 21, 2018Buick LPGA Shanghai−13 2 strokes Marina Alex, Brittany Altomare
Ariya Jutanugarn, Kim Sei-young
Lydia Ko, Liu Wenbo
Annie Park
3Oct 20, 2019Buick LPGA Shanghai −16 1 stroke Jessica Korda

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order before 2018.
^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013.
CUT = missed the half-way cut.
T = tied

Summary

* Includes matchplay and other events without a cut.

World ranking

Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.
YearRankingSource
2010404
2011341
2012106
201397
2014111
201598
201668
201721
201818
20194

Team appearances

Amateur
Professional