There was a car perched on the eighth tee at the Honda LPGA Thailand but Danielle Kang didn’t win it – despite making an ace. Kang struck the perfect 9-iron from 132 yards and watched it drop in the cup for her 14th career ace.
“It was very misleading to have a car on the hole,” said Kang, “because we all thought I won that car.”
The hole-in-one prize, it turns out, was reserved for the 16th hole.
Kang said some fans sent her video of her ace as it wasn’t captured on television cameras.
“It’s actually a streak now that Golf Channel has missed – or like whoever is airing – has missed my hole-in-one,” said Kang, “so no one has actually seen it live, and this is my 14th hole in one.”
Minjee Lee of Australia tees off on the 8th hole during the third round of Honda LPGA Thailand at Siam Country Club Pattaya Old Course on March 12, 2022 in Pattaya, Thailand. (Photo by Thananuwat Srirasant/Getty Images)
Kang said she’d been hitting the ball “phenomenally” the past four days but that her short came hadn’t been as she’d like it.
She was actually thinking that she was due for a hole-out when she stepped onto the eighth tee, saying to herself might as well do it here.
“And then I saw it tracking and then I went, ‘No way,’ ” said Kang. “It landed and I was like, ‘No way.’ Because normally sometimes it sits. It’s soft out here. I was like, wait a second, it’s actually rolling. And I went, ‘No way,’ and it went in and everyone screamed.
“We had a huge crowd. Hometown kind of favorite, Atthaya (Thitikul) was playing with us. It was really cool.”
Kang tied for eighth in Thailand after a closing 66. CME Group will donate $20,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for the ace.