On Thursday, major champion Danielle Kang opened the BMW Ladies Championship with a 66, the sixth tournament in the last two seasons that she has done so. In four of the previous five instances, Kang went on to finish either first or second. She got herself close to adding this week’s event at LPGA International Busan to that list when she finished Friday in a tie for third at -10 with In Gee Chun after a 4-under 68.
“I've been working on a lot of good things. And I called Butch my fairy godfather today because he waved the wand and fixed something that I've been working on for a while,” said Kang. “Guess it was more -- there was a couple technical stuff that we discussed. I think it's being open about what's bothering you, how you felt on certain putts and shots.
“I had enough data for me to present to him, and at that point we discussed possible stuff, and then we tried some things, and I feel like we're on the right track. And then that's when I felt more free.”
Kang played alongside Hae Ran Ryu, the 20-year-old KLPGA winner who is making her first appearance at the BMW Ladies Championship. Ryu, who went 66-70 through the first two days to sit at -8 and tied for sixth, said she was thrilled to be playing along competitors like Kang, who she named as a person she’s looked up to in her journey to becoming a professional golfer.
“Playing on an LPGA Tour is the dream of all female pro golfers. So I'm very honored to be able to play here at BMW tournament. And I'm really glad that the tournament is also taking place in Korea,” said Ryu. “And all the more, I am glad that I am able to perform well yesterday and today. And since I'm younger than other players relatively, from a very young age I always admired the players here before I turned pro. And it's just an honor to be able to play with them.”
“That's pretty cool,” said Kang. “She didn't tell me. I didn't know she was that young…It's pretty cool to be out here, and there are a lot of players out here that have so much talent, and they're great players,” said Kang. “And she had really good game today. So to see her on the leaderboard on the weekend, and we were a good pair together.”
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