KANG GETS WIN NO. 2 ON BIRTHDAY WEEKEND
A day after her 26th birthday, American Danielle Kang climbed to the top of a crowded leaderboard and came away with her second career LPGA victory at the Buick LPGA Shanghai. Kang’s two-shot victory made her the seventh player from the United States to win in 2018.
After shooting 1-over on the front side, Kang rolled in birdies on 11, 13, 14 and 17 on her way into the clubhouse for a final round 3-under 69.
Kang spoke about overcoming anxiety on her way to victory and leaving her frustrations behind.
“More so than anything I'm finally at a place where I'm peaceful and happy with my game, with my life,” said Kang. “There is just so much more you can get through. I hope I win more; I did the best I can. I'm going to keep working hard and keep giving myself chances and keep putting myself in contention. I'll win more. I'll play better.”
SEVEN AT SECOND
A total of seven players ended the tournament at 11-under par in a tie for second place. That list included all sorts of players – former World No. 1s (Lydia Ko, Ariya Jutanugarn), 2018 Rolex First-Time Winners (Annie Park, Marina Alex), the LPGA 72-hole scoring record holder (Sei Young Kim), a player looking for her breakthrough first win (Brittany Altomare) and a 17-year-old non-member going for glory in her home country (Wenbo Liu).
WENBO LIU LEAVES BIG IMPRESSION
17-year-old Wenbo Liu had the home crowd roaring on Sunday – her bid at a groundbreaking victory over the world’s best players ultimately fell short, but she did finish tied for second as the top Chinese player out of the 20 in the field this week.
2018 LPGA rookie Yu Liu (-10) also finished inside the top 10 at T9, with nine-time LPGA winner Shanshan Feng (T20, -5) and 2018 Epson Tour Player of the Year Ruixin Liu (T26, -2) rounding up the Chinese players who finished under par for the week.
LEADERS TOP 10 COMPETITION
Ariya Jutanugarn continues to lead the LEADERS Top 10 competition, recording her 15th top-10 finish on the 2018 season in Shanghai. Minjee Lee is in solo second with 12 top-10 finishes. In third place with 11 top-10 finishes is 2018 LPGA Tour rookie Jin Young Ko.
The LEADERS Top 10 competition awards a $100,000 bonus to the LPGA player with the most top-10 finishes through the completion of the Blue Bay LPGA (Nov. 7-10). In the event of a tie in total top-10 finishes, the award will go to the player with the most official wins, followed by most second-place finishes, third-place finishes, etc., until the tie is broken.
CME GROUP CARES WEEKENDS EAGLES
CME Group Cares Weekends is a season-long charitable giving program that turns eagles into donations. For each eagle recorded during weekend play (Saturday and Sunday) throughout the 2018 LPGA Tour season, CME Group donates $1,000 to the program’s total donation count. At the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, the stakes are even higher, as the donation has been raised to a generous $5,000 per eagle. The money raised will go toward a charitable pool and be split evenly between Wounded Warrior Project® and Bright Pink®.
The weekend at the Buick LPGA Shanghai saw 13 eagles. That translates to $13,000 raised, and $280,000 raised on the year.
PLAYER NOTES
Rolex Rankings No. 29 Danielle Kang (1, -13)
- Kang, 26, is from San Francisco, Calif. and played collegiately at Pepperdine University
- Kang becomes the seventh player from the United States to win on the LPGA in 2018
- Kang’s win makes her the 10th player with wins in both 2017 and 2018
- Kang celebrated her 26th birthday on Saturday, October 20
- Kang finished T3 last week at the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship after missing the cut in five of her previous six starts – she is a combined 25-under par in her last eight rounds dating back to last week
- Kang has six additional top-10 finishes in 2018 including a tie for second at the HSBC Women’s World Championship
- Kang’s became a Rolex First-Time Winner at the 2017 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
- Kang posted a 3-1-0 record as a rookie on the victorious 2017 U.S. Solheim Cup Team
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