NW ARKANSAS CHAMPIONSHIP

September 27, 2023

Danielle Kang

Pinnacle Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the 2023 Wal-Mart Northwest Arkansas Championship. I'm here with Danielle Kang. Welcome to the media center.

We'll just get things started off with last year you had a great performance here. Obviously a lot of energy toward the end. Can you just walk us through your last round and that playoff here?

DANIELLE KANG: I've had some good finishes here in Wal-Mart Arkansas, and I come here -- I think I've only missed it probably once in my entire career. I absolutely love my family that I stay with here. They're pretty much my second family at this point.

Yeah, last year the ending was pretty dramatic. I wish it ended differently sometimes if I look back, but it was a win overall if I look back on the journey that I've come up to in the past couple years.

It was pretty exciting, so I came back this year no matter how schedule conflicting it is. I wanted to try and get that win this year.

Q. You said you had placed well here several times. What does it mean to you to have the community here and be such a local favorite at this event?

DANIELLE KANG: It's so cool that you say that because I feel like I have a lot of Arkansas family members like cheering me on this week. It's my top two, top three favorite event of the entire year, so I always look forward to coming here and playing.

I just wouldn't miss it for the world.

I don't know, there's some people -- everybody that lives in Pinnacle, a few houses, and they were all just texting me being like, hey, welcome back, let's go. They're all excited that I'm on the ticket and the welcome sign. They're more excited about that stuff.

Q. Just to touch briefly on last week, very exciting, very busy week. What did you learn most about yourself last week and what you enjoyed out there?

DANIELLE KANG: Oh, that's a loaded question because that was the most fun I've had in a long, long time on a golf course. Captain Stacy Lewis's leadership was unbelievable. I learned a lot just by watching how she handled the team, how she led us so well and with so much great poise and confidence that she made me even believe in myself and my own game.

I played the best that I played the entire year last week, and I feel like I got my game back, and I really have to thank that entire team and the captains. It's just showcasing on one of the biggest stages. I have to be able to hit that tee shot on No. 1, and I know people have really commented on how I've been hitting the golf ball, but to be able to pull those shots off with that crowd, with that pressure, with that first tee and knowing that Andrea is hoping in the alternate shot that I have to put her in the fairway and things like that. There's a lot of building of momentum and confidence, and I'm just really looking forward to this week.

Q. You talked about all the local fans here cheering you on, but you seemed like -- I saw a lot of attention about your mom cheering you on at the Solheim Cup with her outfits. What was it like to have her there as a support?

DANIELLE KANG: Yeah, everyone keeps saying, oh, she goes all out during Solheim Cup, she's so out there. She's like that daily, so it just happened to be themed that week with stars and stripes.

Yeah, I just love that she gets to be herself and she enjoys it. It's more than golf; I think I talked about it in the last press conference after the Solheim Cup, is that it doesn't matter what the win or loss at this point, it's the momentum we built, the moments we built for and the people we get to entertain. I'm sure a lot of people were entertained watching that Solheim Cup.

At the end of the day, we played hard. Everybody played really, really well. Ask anybody that got enjoyment out of it; whether you got to cheer for Europe, whether you got to cheer for USA, that's what we want people to feel. That's what I want people to feel is that they're involved and they get to enjoy something that we create.

Q. What you mentioned with that excitement, too, heading into 2024, it'll be back in the States at Robert Trent Jones golf course. What do you think that means, too, to have it back home?

DANIELLE KANG: Hopefully -- well, Suzann Pettersen said, it couldn't have been scripted any better, Spain with Carlota, with the last putt, with the way she played, we were down with 9-under through 11. Things like that. So hopefully a lot of scripting goes with us, and hopefully in 2024 in D.C. and all that, I think it'll be really, really great stage for us to do something special, so hopefully we get the chance to win the Cup back on our home ground. That'll be pretty fun.