Aug. 14, 2010
MALIBU, Calif. - Pepperdine sophomore Danielle Kang has reached the final pairing of the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship and will play in Sunday's final after defeating Jennifer Kirby, 1 up, in Saturday's semifinals at the Charlotte (N.C.) Country Club.
Kang (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake HS) will square off against fellow 17-year-old Jessica Korda for the championship on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Golf Channel will have delayed coverage at noon PT.
Kang played consistent golf and was able to edge Kirby, a Canadian who plays collegiately at Alabama, in the semifinals. Kang had 15 pars, two bogies and one birdie.
Both of Kang's bogeys came early and Kirby was able to go up by one hole after a birdie on the fourth hole. Kang made the match square on the par-5 seventh hole thanks to her only birdie of the day. She then ended her round with 11 consecutive pars.
Bogies by Kirby allowed Kang to go up one after the eighth hole, two after the 11th hole and three after the 14th hole. Kang led by three holes with three to play but Kirby closed the gap with birdies on the 16th and 17th holes to cut Kang's lead to one with one hole to play.
On the par-4 18th, Kirby missed a 20-foot birdie attempt and Kang won the match when she sank a three-foot putt for par.
"I didn't set any limits before I came here," said Kang in a USGA news release about any pressure she's feeling. "After the U.S. (Women's) Open, I just told myself to go have some fun. I play golf because I love it, not because of stress. I don't put a limit or expectations (on myself) anymore. Go play."
Kang has had an outstanding summer since ending her first collegiate season with a tie for 15th place at the NCAA Championships and earning All-American second team honors from Golfweek. In addition to her showing at the Canadian Women's Amateur, she 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. Kang ended up in 64th place.
She 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. That was the second time that Kang has been the medalist in stroke play at a USGA championship, having also earned that distinction at the 2009 U.S. Women's Amateur.
Earlier in U.S. Women's Amateur, Kang tied for 10th place during the stroke play portion of the competition with an even-par 144 (74-70). She defeated Grace Na (3 & 2) in the first round, 14-year-old Gabriella Then (5 & 3) in the second round, Arizona State's Juliana Murcia Ortiz (1 up) in the third round and UCLA's Sydnee Michaels (19 holes) in the quarterfinals.
More information about the U.S. Amateur, including live scoring, can be found here: http://www.usga.org/ChampEventSite.aspx?id=17179869348
The Waves begin their 2010-11 season at the NCAA Fall Preview, hosted by Texas A&M, on September 13-15.
