Imagine playing in one of the biggest tournaments of the year, and your golf clubs are nowhere to be found.
Team USA’s Danielle Kang loses golf clubs in travel nightmare ahead of Solheim Cup
Danielle Kang, the 12th-ranked player in the world, lost her golf clubs while flying to Spain for the Solheim Cup.
Jack Milko has been playing golf since he was five years old. He has yet to record a hole-in-one, but he did secure an M.A. in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
That is the situation Danielle Kang currently finds herself in at Finca Cortesin, the site of this year’s Solheim Cup in Malaga, Spain.
“It’s been an adventure. It wouldn’t be my life without a dramatic entrance, so it’s okay. It’s all good,” Kang said in a press conference Tuesday. “It is what it is. You just kind of roll with the punches. It’s life, it’s golf, you know, it’s okay.”
Southern Spain is not the easiest place to travel to from the United States.
Kang flew from Las Vegas, where she resides, to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport for a layover. She flew to Malaga from there, but her clubs did not make it with her.
“My captain, Stacy [Lewis], has been absolutely incredible,” Kang added. “The entire U.S. team has been helping me. Everyone’s on top of it... My sponsor Titleist made up a second set that’s flying in temporarily tonight, and then Ping has made me a temporary set today that I got to play with, so we can at least test out the golf course.”
As of Tuesday, Kang still does not have her clubs, but she is lucky her sponsors have pledged support.
Yet, Kang, the 2017 Women’s PGA Champion, does have her putter—the only club that travels separately. She actually puts it in a rifle case for extra protection.
“I do travel with my putter separately... because I don’t have the means to get my putter checked every week and, yes, the clubs do get bent on the plane and, yes, they matter, to all the people wondering,” Kang said.
“So, thankfully, the putter didn’t get lost. But it’s okay. The other 13 [clubs] are coming. It’s coming. We have faith. [Lewis] is on it. She’s putting out fires, and I’m pretty sure I’m the only one causing fire right now.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
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