American golfer Danielle Kang revealed that after her second round at the US Women’s Open, that she was diagnosed with a tumour on her spine. Currently ranked 12th in the world, said that it has not yet been determined whether the tumour is malignant or benign. Talking about it, she said, “I’ve gone through a lot of procedures so far, and with the process of elimination we are narrowing it down”.
“It’s going to take time”. Despite her diagnosis, Kang is currently three-over-par through the first two rounds at Pine Needles, the 29-year-old was projected to make the cut late on Friday with the second play still ongoing. Kang withdrew from two tournaments earlier this season, citing back pain. She said that her doctors do not know at this stage whether the tumour was the sole reason or a contributing factor to the pain.
“I didn’t want to publicize it”
She told reporters that she did not plan to share much about her situation, but decided to address it because the word ‘got out’. “Right now, it’s not as simple as blaming the tumour to be that problem,” Kang said. “It’s not just that I have an issue with my back, there is more to it”.
She continued, “The scary part is that I understand, and I just didn’t want to publicise it, but I know it got out. There’s more to it. I just don’t want to really discuss the details of what’s going on in my back”. When asked if the tumour was benign, she said, “I don’t really have the answers now”. Doctors told her that she wouldn’t be able to play in this weekend’s major, but defied the odds and played through the pain.
I respect Lia Thomas being who she is.
That being said, we really need to address this issue. Having a genetically male athlete compete against genetic females isn't fair to those born as women. It just isn't. I have very liberal views, but fair is fair.
— Adam L (@AdamEmpathy) May 31, 2022
Kang was asked about how she was feeling overall, and Kang was open with the reports after her round, saying, “I’m not feeling fantastic, but I’m playing golf, which is good. I’m good enough to kind of play. I feel like I can, just got a little unlucky out there today, made a crazy triple. Other than that, I actually played really solid”. Kang has won six times on the LPGA Tour, including one major, the 2017 Women’s PGA Championship.
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