ORLANDO, Fla. — Past Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions winner Danielle Kang got off to a strong start on Thursday at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club, carding a first-round 68 to sit in a tie for fourth and three back of the lead held by Ayaka Furue.
The six-time LPGA Tour winner quietly started her day with eight consecutive pars, finally breaking through with a birdie on the par-5 9th hole to get to 1-under. That birdie kickstarted a whirlwind back nine for Kang, who picked up two pairs of back-to-back birdies on holes 11, 12, 14 and 15 before making her first bogey of the day on No. 16.
She quickly recovered with a birdie on the par-3 17th hole, but she gave that shot right back after making bogey on the 18th, a misstep that Kang said she didn’t mind making because she “accomplished something unbelievable on that tee box.”
It’s the fifth time Kang has opened with a round of 68 or better at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. The last time she did so was in 2022, and the major champion went on to win that year, defeating Brooke Henderson by three shots after carding all four rounds in the 60s to claim her sixth career LPGA Tour victory.
Few players will ever complain about kicking off a brand-new season with a 68, and Kang was incredibly satisfied with what she saw from herself on day one at Lake Nona. But it was even more special to the 31-year-old to get to tee it up alongside former NFL player Marcus Allen, who she considers to be like family, and World Series champion Derek Lowe, who won the celebrity division of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in 2022.
“I played with Derek Lowe so many times. We won together two years ago. He's a hoot to play with. He outdrives me by about 200 yards, honestly,” Kang said. “I was really happy to be paired with Marcus Allen, who is also like my uncle. Sometimes I look back and realize that I have an unbelievable amount of loving people around me, and I think that's just so lucky.
“I'm really happy because today is kind of the day that I'm going to look back and go, I got to play an opening round, first tournament of 2024, a competitive round, literally with my family member. So that was something that I wanted to embrace.”
This is Kang’s sixth time teeing it up at Lake Nona for the Tournament of Champions, and in her five previous appearances, she has never finished worse than T18, doing so for the first and only time in 2019. She then tied for 12th in 2020, finished solo second in 2021, won in 2022 and tied for 12th again in 2023.
When asked what it is about this event that brings out the best in her game, Kang said it has a lot to do with Lake Nona, a venue that she has come to love competing at since it first became the home of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions the same year that she won the event.
“Honestly, I think Lake Nona is really, really difficult. Extremely difficult. I was playing a practice round, and I was thinking to myself, I didn't realize how difficult this golf course was, and I think about that every time I play it,” Kang said. “It's hard to score. It might seem otherwise sometimes, but I think you just can't lose focus, and I lose focus a lot. Tournaments like here today, you have to stay with it, and Lake Nona is always kind of on standby to get you.
“I think that's what I really like about it is aw, it got me there or ha I got you there. You're having this game and fun with the golf course, and I think Lake Nona is just really, really challenging. I think we could have a major here, to be honest.”
But Kang made Lake Nona look easy on Thursday and is hoping to do more of the same over the next 54 holes. After an off-season primarily spent in the Republic of Korea, Kang is looking refreshed and ready to take on her 13th year on the LPGA Tour, and the avid goal-setter of course has plenty of things in mind that she would like to achieve in 2024.
But for now, the veteran is focused on taking things one day at a time and is looking forward to what the next three rounds in Orlando, Fla., have in store as she works to track down a seventh career LPGA Tour title and a second victory at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
“I like short-term goals, mid-term goals, long-term goals,” Kang said. “I can't look far into it as the whole season of 2024. What I'm trying to do is be really focused on what I can do today. There are things that I want to be able to accomplish. My little goals and setting goals with the team that I've set around me has been pretty incredible.
“I'm excited to see what tomorrow brings. I'm excited to see what Saturday brings. I can't promise anybody that I'm going to succeed every single day, but I'm going to try my best to have a really good solid week.”
Out here having fun 🤗 #HGVLPGA pic.twitter.com/vMkCk1Xz3F
— LPGA (@LPGA) January 18, 2024
)
)
)
)
