As the LPGA Tour begins a new season, 12-year Tour veteran and major champion Danielle Kang looks to start her year off strong once again with a win at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions and become the first LPGA Tour player to win the event twice. Derek Lowe is also defending his celebrity title after joining Kang in the winner’s circle in 2022. Returning to Lake Nona Golf and Country Club as the defending champion gives Kang a motivational boost at the start of the season but the 30-year-old doesn’t let herself get too comfortable.
“I guess you get a little bit of extra confidence because you see your face everywhere all of a sudden and everything is good memories. So I think that does help, in golf especially. Sometimes you know you can make a putt, but that extra confidence helps you make it,” said Kang. “I think you do have an edge, but it's different conditions, different course, different year. You still have to play good golf. But I feel really good about it and I'm excited. I'm playing with Lee Brice again on the first day. We don't know how that happens, but it happens every year. Luck of the draw. I'm excited to see him.”
Lake Nona will put the field of 29 LPGA Tour champions, and a variety of celebrity participants, to the test. According to KPMG Performance Insights, Kang and the rest of the top-five finishers in 2022 gained nearly half of their strokes over the field with their approach shots. Kang herself ranked inside the top-10 in the field in strokes gained approach during every round, and second during the final round at +3.18. In order to secure the back-to-back victory at the notoriously difficult course in Lake Nona, Kang knows she’ll have to bring her best game once again.
“I believe that winning at good golf courses means you're a good player. Winning anywhere does. But it's extra meaningful for me because I'm very particular about golf courses. Some courses I just don't play well at, and I already know, and I avoid them quite a bit, but Nona is not an easy golf course, not an easy track,” said Kang. “You have to have your game tuned all around. Bunkers shots to chip shots, pitch shots, irons off the tee, and it's fun. It's fun to play. It's going to be tough. When you take your mind off it for one second the bogeys are just around the corner. It makes me feel really good to be able to take a trophy home from caliber golf courses.”
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