BACK IN THE WINDY CITY

The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, which begins Thursday morning at Kemper Lakes Golf Club, returns to Chicago for a second consecutive year. Last year, American Danielle Kang’s dramatic birdie on the 72nd and final hole edged Brooke Henderson, who was the defending champion, by a single stroke at Olympia (Ill.) Fields, which is located only 60 miles south of Kemper Lakes.

100-FOR-100 … AGAIN

The field for the 2018 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is again a strong one, as each of the top 100 members on the LPGA Official Money List is present his week at Kemper Lakes Golf Club. Top-100 LPGA talent also had perfect attendance at each of the last two KPMG Women’s PGA Championships: 2017 at Olympia Fields and 2016 at Sahalee.

DANIELLE KANG’S IN A GOOD PLACE

Defending KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winner Danielle Kang casually strolled into her press conference while digging into a strawberry ice cream bar. She clearly likes the life of a champion.

“I'm everywhere,” she said with a big laugh. “On the tickets. I'm on the pamphlets. I'm on the board as you drive in. My name is there. Pictures are everywhere.”

Glory set aside, her trademark big smile and even bigger laugh disguise the tough competitor that lies beneath the surface. In 2017 at Olympia Fields Country Club, Kang three-putted for bogey and tumbled from the top of the leaderboard. In a situation where many elite athletes have crumbled, Kang instead found that internal fighter and came back for her first LPGA and major victory.

“I was so upset on 10 that I three-putted,” said Kang, who reeled off four consecutive birdies to regain the lead and ultimately birdied the 72nd hole for a one-stroke win. “I started thinking about what I could do to fix it, and I go, oh, yeah, that's what causes that, and then the next hole dropped a birdie, and I'm like, there it goes.”

Fast forward a year, and Kang is still looking for a second win to join her KPMG title. But she already has a great track record in defending major victories, having won back-to-back U.S. Women’s Amateur titles in 2010 and 2011.

“When I won the first U.S. Am, the only thing I wanted to do was win that second one,” said Kang, who will begin her title defense on Thursday at 8:10 a.m. with fellow major champions Ariya Jutanugarn and Inbee Park. “I really like that feeling. I've just been looking forward to this event for the whole year, and I'm here.”

MAJOR CHAMPIONS GALORE

The 156-player field for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship includes 29 different major champions that have combined on 62 major titles. Juli Inkster, Inbee Park and Karrie Webb lead the pack with seven majors apiece.

10 THAT WANT TO DO IT AGAIN

Ten former KPMG Women’s PGA Champions are in the field this week in Chicago: Laura Davies (1994, 1996), Shanshan Feng (2012), Brooke Henderson (2016), Juli Inkster (1999, 2000), Danielle Kang (2017), Cristie Kerr (2010), Inbee Park (2013, ’14, ‘15), Anna Nordqvist (2009), Yani Tseng (2008, 2011) and Karrie Webb (2001).

THE POWER OF 3

Three players – Ariya Jutanugarn, Inbee Park and Charley Hull -- have posted top-10 finishes in both of the LPGA’s first two major championships of the season, the ANA Inspiration and U.S. Women’s Open. A closer look at their performances:

Player		ANA Inspiration	U.S. Women's Open
1	Ariya Jutanugarn	T-4	Winner
2	Inbee Park	T-2	9th
3	Charley Hull	T-6	T-10

PARITY’S PARTY

Through 17 completed LPGA events this season, 16 players have claimed victories. With victories in the U.S. Women’s Open and the Kingsmill Championship presented by GEICO, only Ariya Jutanugarn has visited the winner’s circle more than once in 2018. This mimics last year, when there were 15 different winners in 16 events leading into the 2017 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (So Yeon Ryu was the lone two-time winner).

THE VIEW FROM THE SUMMIT

Enhancing Championship Week is Wednesday’s 4th Annual KPMG Women’s Leadership Summit, which will be hosted on-site at Kemper Lakes. The event brings together highly accomplished leaders in business, politics, sports and the media to inspire the next generation of women leaders. KPMG U.S. Chairman and CEO Lynne Doughtie, 66th U.S. Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice and U.S. Navy Admiral Michelle Howard are the keynote speakers, while Olympic medalists Nancy Kerrigan and Hilary Knight will share their relevant experiences gained as world-class athletes.

Net proceeds from the Championship and Summit fund the KPMG Future Leaders Program. This Program affords top female high school seniors across the country the opportunity to enhance their personal growth through college scholarships, a leadership development retreat at Stanford University, a mentoring relationship with a woman business leader, and an introduction to golf.

Kang Is In A Good Place And More From the Windy City

Related Articles