Oct. 3, 2010

MALIBU, Calif. - Pepperdine sophomore Danielle Kang tied for 19th place while competing as an amateur at the Japan Women's Open this weekend.

Kang (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake HS) was invited to take part in the tournament after winning the U.S. Women's Amateur this summer. She missed last weekend's Golfweek Conference Challenge to travel to Japan, but after making a quick trans-Pacific flight that gets her into Seattle today, she will be back in the lineup for the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational, which starts on Monday in Tacoma, Wash.

In Japan, Kang shot a 7-over 295 (75-75-72-73) at the four-day tournament and tied as the low amateur. Each day, she moved up in the standings, going from 38th to 37th to 25th to her final position.

Kang has had a very impressive year since graduating early from Westlake High School in order to enroll at Pepperdine in January. She won her second collegiate tournament (the Bruin Wave Invitational), ended her season with a tie for 15th place at the 2010 NCAA Championships and earned All-American second team honors from Golfweek.

Over the summer, in addition to her U.S. Women's Amateur victory at the Charlotte (N.C.) Country Club, Kang qualified for the U.S. Women's Open for the second time and went on to be one of only six amateurs to make the cut before ending up in 64th place. She also had a second-place showing at the Canadian Women's Amateur, and Kang was the medalist in the stroke-play portion of the U.S. Junior Girls Championship before losing in the quarterfinals of match play to the eventual champion.

The Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational is the final fall tournament for the Waves. It runs Monday through Wednesday (Oct. 4-6).