To say that Danielle Kang is looking forward to the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore is an understatement.
The American star could hardly contain herself when speaking about returning to the Far East for the US$1.6 million showpiece at Sentosa Golf Club, as it marks the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic hit that the LPGA Tour has travelled to Asia … and Kang is also a huge fan of the city state!
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be able to go down to Singapore again! I love Singapore; it’s one of my favourite cities in the world,” said Kang.
Dubbed ‘Asia’s Major’, the tournament takes place at Sentosa Golf Club on April 29-May 2. Despite the movement restrictions for players in Singapore due to the LPGA Tour’s strict Covid-19 safeguards, Kang noted that she will be happy just being there.
“I know that we’re going to be quarantined and I understand that we’re going to be in a bubble, but just going to Singapore and knowing I’ll be at Changi Airport … I’m going to be so happy!
“I’m going to order food to be delivered and it’ll be so great. I love it there … I’m going to move!”
The tournament was last staged in 2019 and did not take place last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and resultant travel restrictions. Kang will be making her seventh appearance in the event, coming closest to winning in 2018 when she finished joint second at Sentosa’s New Tanjong Course.
“For some reason, I play really well in Asia … I love the heat to be honest and I’m excited to go back and compete,” noted the 28-year-old.
This year’s tournament returns to the highly-rated New Tanjong layout, which has been the venue since 2017 and recently underwent an upgrading exercise with some design modifications. Kang rates the par-72 course as one of her favourites on tour.
“I love the fact that’s it’s more of a ball-striker’s golf course. You have to place your shots and it’s got what I call quadrant greens, pocketing in the right places … so control from the fairways is very important.
“I really appreciate golf courses where you have to shot-shape, depending on where the pins are,” she noted.
Asked what she thought of the tournament’s slogan, Game Changers, Kang replied: “I believe that we change all the time, as a person, as a golfer, as a competitor. There’s always a new obstacle, twists and turns … so anytime there has been something that I have to overcome, the people that support me in that moment, whoever they may be, have been the game changers for me.
“As a coach, Butch Harmon was a game changer for me in 2018… I had missed eight out of nine cuts and Dustin Johnson asked me to go and see Butch and I did. We worked on some things for a couple of weeks and I went third place, first place, top 10.
“When I was going through some hardships, my family was my game changer, my mum was my game changer,” she shared.
For more information on the HSBC Women’s World Championship, click here
