The Honda LPGA Thailand had a car parked on the eighth hole, but Danielle Kang didn’t win despite making an ace. Kang hit the perfect 9-iron from 132 yards and saw it drop into the cup for her 14th ace of the season.
“Having a car on the hole was incredibly deceiving,” Kang explained, “because we all assumed I won that car.”
It turns out that the hole-in-one award was set aside for the 16th hole.
Kang claimed that while her ace was not captured on television cameras, some admirers gave her video of it.
“It’s actually a streak now that Golf Channel has missed – or whatever is airing – my hole-in-one, so no one has actually seen it live, and this is my 14th hole-in-one,” Kang explained.
Kang claimed she’d been hitting the ball “phenomenally” for the past four days, but her short game hadn’t been up to par.
When she got onto the eighth tee, she was actually thinking to herself that she was due for a hole-out and that she might as well do it here.
“And then I saw it tracking, and I was like, ‘No way,'” Kang explained. “When it landed, I thought to myself, ‘No way.’ Because it is common for it to sit at times. It’s a bit squishy out here. Wait a second, it’s actually rolling, I thought. ‘No way,’ I said, and it went in, causing everyone to scream.
“There was a sizable crowd. Atthaya (Thitikul), a hometown favorite, was playing with us. It was fantastic.”
After a final round of 66, Kang was tied for seventh place in Thailand. For the ace, the CME Group will donate $20,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
