Danielle Kang

Danielle Kang's Early Life and Background

Danielle Kang was born in San Francisco, California, on October 20, 1992. Raised in Southern California, she started high school at Oak Park High School and then moved early to Westlake High School to start college in the spring of 2010 at Pepperdine University in Malibu.

Danielle Kang's Amateur Career

As a junior golfer, Kang competed regularly on the Southern California PGA Junior Tour, sharing the field with former SCPGA members Lizette Salas and Brianna Do. She qualified for the 2007 U.S. Women's Open at the age of 14.

In the spring of 2011, Kang participated in the Pepperdine golf team's regular season. She declared that she was not sad when she was declared academically ineligible to participate in the 2011 NCAA post-season since "Pepperdine is in the past for me. I'm focusing on the future. Turning pro after the U.S. Women's Amateur."

Kang participated in all four majors as an amateur in 2011 and won the U.S. Women's Amateur in 2010. Three majors saw her make the cut, including the LPGA Championship, where she was the only player not playing professionally.

At the Women's British Open, Kang tied for 49th place, making her a low amateur. She became the first player in more than 15 years to win consecutive titles in August 2011, when she again won at the U.S. Women's Amateur.

Danielle Kang's Professional Career

2011 saw Kang go professional and in September of that year, she participated in her first professional event at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship through a sponsor's exemption, but she missed the cut.

Kang enrolled in the LPGA Qualifying School in 2011, and made it to the final stage, surviving by shooting 293, over 5, just inside the cut line. She tied for 39th place in the last stage of Q-School, Stage III and was granted conditional status for the 2012 LPGA Tour.

Kang participated in 19 LPGA Tour events in 2012, making 13 cuts, and earning $239,184. She finished the season ranked 52nd on the official LPGA season-ending money list, securing her full status for the 2013 LPGA Tour.

In her 144th LPGA Tour start, Kang won the 2017 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, her first victory on the tour. Kang won her second career title in October 2018, winning the inaugural Buick LPGA Shanghai tournament by a margin of two strokes and consecutively winning again the next season.

Kang won the LPGA Drive-On Championship at Ohio's Inverness Club in August 2020. Following a six-month break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this was the LPGA's first tournament back. Kang won her fifth LPGA Tour title at the Marathon Classic one week later.

Kang took home the 2020 Vare Trophy as the LPGA Tour player with the lowest scoring average. Kang won the 2022 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, her sixth LPGA Tour win.

At the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio tournament held January 27–30, Kang came very close to missing out on a rare back-to-back victory to kick off a new LPGA season, losing to her longtime friend Lydia Ko by a single stroke. They were tied at 12-under at the 14th hole in the fourth round when Ko birdied the 15th to seize the lead, and both birdied the 16th before parring the last two holes. Ko made $300,000.

Kang stopped playing on the tour after announcing at the end of the 2022 U.S. Women's Open on June 5 that she had a tumor on her spine. She returned to competition at the CP Women's Open on August 25 after treatment, where she tied for 17th place with a score of 274, under 10.

Her most notable performance for the rest of the season was at the 2022 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G, where she finished runner-up, losing to Atthaya Thikkul in a playoff; Kang lost to a birdie on the second hole. All in all, for the entire season, she recorded seven top-10 finishes.

In the 2023 season, she played in 20 events, cutting in 16. She also played at the Hanwha Lifeplus International Crown and recorded three top-10 finishes, with the best being that she tied for third place at the HSBW Women's World Championship with a score of 274, under 14.

As of March 2024, she had played in four events, cutting in three. At the Fir Hills Seri PAK Championship, she made the first member ace of the 2024 LPGA Tour season when she used her 5-iron to complete a hole-in-one on the par-3 11th hole at Palos Verdes Golf Club from a distance of 174 yards.

Kang's feat is her fifth hole-in-one on the LPGA Tour and her first since she holed out on the par-3 eighth hole in the 2022 Honda LPGA Thailand final round.

Danielle Kang's Playing Style

Unfortunately, not much is available about her playing style, but she has a unique bond with her clubs, particularly her putter.

Kang uses her DK Special stamped Scotty Cameron putter to tie her career-best score of 63. According to her interview with Golf Digest, she gave Scotty Cameron the idea, and he took many days to produce the molds after they worked on it for hours.

She takes a different approach to putting than most people and has a different technique, but it suits her. She says it's not a hit since she flinches slightly each time she puts it.

Danielle Kang's Caddie

As of March 2024, Kang's caddie is Fred Bonnargent, per the Professional Ladies Tour Caddies Association (PLTCA). He had previously caddied for his wife Karine Icher's bag, a five-time LET winner who retired in 2019 at the age of 40.

Kang changed her caddie early in 2023. Golf Digest reported that Kang and her longtime looper, Olly Brett, will no longer be collaborating, terminating the partnership that started in 2017.

Requests for comments were not answered by Kang or her representative. But Brett stated to Golf Digest: “We had a great five years and I’m grateful for everything we achieved.”

Brett gave no further explanation for why he and Kang would have split up. Englishman Brett has been on the bag for two Solheim Cup appearances and five of Kang's six career LPGA wins.

Danielle Kang's Golf Journey

Danielle Kang began her golfing journey through junior tournaments and qualifying for the U.S. Women's Open at just 14 years old. Transitioning to college briefly, she turned professional after winning the 2010 U.S. Women's Amateur.

Her professional career highlights include victories at the major KPMG Women's PGA Championship in 2017 and consecutive wins at the Buick LPGA Shanghai tournament. She has a total of six professional wins and 57 career top-10s.

She won two more events in 2020, at the LPGA Drive-On Championship and the Marathon Classic, while also earning accolades like the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average.

Despite facing challenges, including a spinal tumor diagnosis in 2022 and respiratory infections in 2023, Kang returned to competition, after treatment. Most recently, she recorded an ace at the 2024 Fir Hills Seri PAK Championship.

Danielle Kang's Achievements

The achievements of Danielle Kang are as follows:

• Won US Women’s Amateur Championship in 2010 and 2011.

• Won 2017 KPMG Women's PGA Championship.

• Four Solheim Cup appearances in 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2023.

• Tied for 20th place at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Danielle Kang's Majors

Danielle Kang's Awards and Honors

Danielle Kang's Net Worth

Unfortunately, no authentic data is available regarding the net worth of Daniella Kang. However, her on-course career earnings (excluding sponsorship earnings) are $8.5 million as per the LPGA Tour.

Thus, based on this and the basic calculation of a net worth being around 30% of an individual's earnings, her net worth could be estimated to be $2.5 million. However, this is just speculation; it has no real validity beyond mathematics.

Her biggest payout was at the 2017 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, where she defeated Brooke Henderson by a single stroke for a score of 271, under 13, earning $525,000. Her second biggest payout was at the Buick LPGA Shanghai in both 2018 and 2019, both times earning $315,000.

Danielle Kang's Ventures

Danielle Kang has endorsement deals with MGM Resorts, Titleist, BMW Golfsport, Omega, Citi Bank, Descente Global, Cisco, and ADP, as per her Instagram account. Her exact earnings from her endorsements are not known.

Danielle Kang's Assets

Danielle Kang resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the United States, though a precise address is not available.

Danielle Kang's Family

K.S. Kang and Grace Lee are the parents of Danielle Kang. Her early years were spent in Busan, South Korea, and then she returned to California. She also has an elder brother, Alex, who plays professional golf.

During her numerous amateur victories, including the 2010 U.S. Women's Amateur, her late father, K.S. Kang, caddied for her. Sadly, K.S. passed away in 2013 from brain cancer. She paid respect to her father by visiting his gravestone following her significant victory at the 2017 KPMG Women's PGA Championship. On her Instagram post, she shared a picture of the occasion along with the words, "We did it."

Her mother, Grace Lee, was present at her Women's PGA Championship in 2017, and since then has stood by her side. After Kang's six professional wins, she hasn't won a professional title and with all the health issues that took an emotional toll on the golfer, her mother, Grace, did her best to help her daughter with the dilemma.

Danielle Kang has also caddied for her brother, Alex Kang, who is a professional golfer on the PGA Tour as of March 2024. He made his way from playing collegiate golf at San Diego State University to turning professional in 2012.

Followed by his career on the PGA Tour Canada in 2013 and 2014 and the PGA Tour China in 2015 and 2016 with fine-ish results. He joined the Korn Ferry Tour in 2016, playing in 56 events and making cuts in 22 of them, with three top-10 finishes.

Danielle Kang's Boyfriend

There is no information about Danielle Kang’s boyfriend as of March 2024. Her ex-boyfriend was Maverick McNealy; they started dating in 2019 and broke up in 2021. McNealy is now married to Maya Daniel; they tied the knot in December 2023.

Danielle Kang's Cars

There is no information available regarding the car collection of Danielle Kang.