Southern Pines, NC – Daniel Kang is not a morning man. The 2017 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winner doesn’t like to get up really early. Recently, however, he has no choice.
Just a month ago, Kang was diagnosed with a lump in her spine, which she revealed after the second round of the US Women’s Open at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club on Friday. “I’ve been suffering from back pain for some time, but I never thought I would have a tumor problem,” Kang said.
“I don’t want it to be awkward,” Kang told ESPN on Saturday after 73 of his third round. “But I wasn’t afraid of the outcome. I was afraid of not being able to play.”
On Saturday, the 29-year-old flew at 7:52 a.m., so the wake-up call for her new pre-round routine was earlier than usual. She and her physiotherapist, Aaron Bond, do warm-up and pull-down exercises to activate her back. They attach kinesio tape to “lift fascia tissue” and they use cupping therapy. They do it again after that round.
“I have a lot to do going forward,” said Kang, who won the 2017 Women’s PGA Championship. “And that’s just to play in the US Open.”
Kang is clear about this: she didn’t get to play in the Bank of Hope LPGA match-play last week in Las Vegas. He was not scheduled to play in the US Open this week. The first incident happened due to its relationship with its sponsor – MGM Resorts. The latter happened because, as Kang would tell you, she and her team would not have missed out on the US Open even if they had considered dropping out.
“I have never given up,” Kang said. I played here at the age of 14, 15 years ago I came here with my father. “As long as I’m able to get out of there … I didn’t want to miss another major, so I kept going. I’m a player like that, but I think we’re limited.
Kang says he doesn’t have many answers about tumors. Since the diagnosis, there is not much clarity. The pain, however, is undeniable. You can see it when she smiles after a hard approach shot or when she walks awkwardly after a long drive. And you can see it in her eyes, too, when she knows that whatever she prepares for before the round can not only help with the discomfort, it can also prevent her from working too hard in her sport.
“I do not like it [Saturday]”I think I’m very tired,” Kang said. “That’s why I couldn’t pass the ball. I was hitting it everywhere left and right … I didn’t give myself a birdie chance. “
His team and his family encourage Kang not to worry about his score, but Kang can’t help it. She was disappointed with the way she played on Saturday.
“I would never say I’m out just to try and have fun. I’m a competitor,” she said. “For the last few holes, whether it hurt or not, I just needed to get the ball. It was a little uncomfortable, but I hit some good shots.
Kang made two holes in his last four holes. On the 17th, she was green and decided to call it a shot. The ball took off and went inside. Kang’s face lit up, she raised her hands, celebrated with a cup of tea, and thanked the crowd, which was as nice as she put it. The moment was a salvage.
“These rounds have been really tough over the last few days, and they’ve been really fun,” Kang said of the chip-in. “I don’t know, I don’t have much confidence in my game right now, so I just enjoyed running shots.”
Physical distress is one thing, but Kang also had to adapt to the mental distress that befell him. Seeing the bad shots over and over again she says she walks up to him. But she has to remind herself that she is not losing her skills, she may be temporary.
“I mean, ‘I’ll do it,'” Kang said. “So I had to tell myself, no, ‘I’m able to hit the punch cut. I’m able to hit the control draw. Because I want to tell myself I’ll come back and play like before.
Kang said she was looking forward to reaching the finals on Sunday. He will then have a few more doctor visits to try to get more answers about the tumor as well as how he should view golf.
“It’s unknown what I’m most afraid of,” Kang said.
When asked how he processed the news when the tumor was first detected, he thought for a second before answering.
“The process is still ongoing,” she said.
