Kang dramatically wins Women’s PGA Championship for first major title

Danielle Kang finished the morning wave atop the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship leaderboard.

She has three career LPGA victories, but remains in search of her first title in the United States.

Talk about sailing uncharted waters. On a day when Canada celebrates its 150th anniversary, one of the country’s most celebrated athletes worked to position herself for a second major title.

Kang said she could hear her father’s voice as she cleaned up that last putt, which closed out a 3-under-par 68 and sealed a one-shot victory over Brooke Henderson (66), who birdied the final two holes.

She made short work of it with a two-putt birdie to post a six-under-par 65, good for a one-shot advantage over fellow South Korean Chella Choi at Olympia Fields. Amy Yang and Sei Young Kim are four back at 207.

Lexi Thompson (69), the world No. 1 So Yeon Ryu (71) and Michelle Wie (70) were in a group at five under. Kang entered the Championship, boasting the strongest women’s field of the year, as the No. 43-ranked player in the world. She had never finished higher than 14th in a major, after winning two U.S. Amateurs in 2010 and ’11.

“If I could wish anything, I would wish that my dad saw me won”, said Kang, whose father, K.S, died from brain and lung cancer in 2013. “It makes you feel so blessed to be out here”. I’ve been hitting it straight, and that’s been rewarding me. “I think it suits my game because of that”.

That’s an excellent plan, but as the boxer Mike Tyson liked to say, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”. She keeps a journal where she writes messages to her father.

Lingmerth hit 12 of 14 fairways on Thursday and 10 of 14 on Friday, and he hit all but five greens in regulation each day. The lack of self-inflicted pressure might be the reason she’s in prime position.

“But, you know, it was a great day”. I played well at the ANA (the year’s first Major), but I sort of didn’t do well on the final day. The 26-year-old from Daegu won her only LPGA crown at the 2015 Marathon Classic.

Only two strokes from the halfway lead here, Moriya’s weekend challenge never really left the launch pad, a closing 73 on Sunday leaving her tied for 20th at three-under 281, 10 strokes behind victor Danielle Kang. She reminded everyone she was once No. 1 in the Rolex Ranking with a sizzling 64.

“I just kept trusting in my own game and trusting in my putting”, Kang said. “It was tough out there but kind of have to laugh off the mistakes a little bit out here”.

The Swede won a Web.com Tour event at TPC Potomac in 2012.

Jiyai Shin is two shots back in third. In fact, this is only the fourth LPGA major appearance she we went home in 2014.

Henderson has noticed an increase in attention since the high-profile achievements a year ago, and so has her sister.

“He said, ‘Just go win it, ‘ Kang recalled”. Danielle Kang shook lots of hands Sunday evening.

But Sunday belonged to Danielle Kang, the California girl who counts celebrities as friends.