The top 60 in the LPGA Tour are gearing up for this week’s grind at the CME Group Tour Championship. But former major winner Danielle Kang is spending a relatively stress-free week. Or so you might think. Kang’s surprising drop in form means she wasn’t eligible for the season-ending Tour championship. But her vacation is no less nerve-wracking than standing over a 3-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole.

Danielle Kang was swimming with a school of sharks. No, not inside a cage. She was free-diving in the Pacific. The six-time LPGA Tour winner captioned, “Free Diving with Sharks goes in my top 5 craziest things I’ve done last pic I was actually thinking ‘what am I doing…yea let’s go back up to surface.’”

California has one of the most concentrated shark populations in the USA. The Pepperdine alum was likely in Malibu, as her stories revealed. Surfing close to an apex predator has its thrill, but surely it’s scary, as Kang’s words revealed.

She posted a few snaps on her Instagram story as well. In one, the 32-year-old took a selfie on the beach, captioning, “Forever a Cali (California) girl.” In her last story, Danielle Kang posted a picture of her surfing underwater writing, “Be unapologetically you.”

Kang’s love for the sea is well known. Previously, she has shared snippets from her day out or vacationing by the sea. Currently, the 2017 KMPG Women’s PGA Championship winner is enjoying her off-season. Although 2024 hasn’t gone as planned for Danielle Kang, the LPGA pro is clearly moving on to the next season. In fact, her Instagram stories also reveal that she is taking time to fix the mistakes from this season. 

What went wrong for Danielle Kang this year?

Danielle Kang has made only nine cuts from 19 appearances this season, with zero top-ten finishes. In her last five starts, Kang’s best-place finish has been a T47. The drop in form has been staggering, even though the LPGA Tour pro has tried to shrug it off. Kang is a 12-year veteran of the LPGA Tour and has notched at least one top-ten in each season. Last year, she bagged three. 

Her best performance came at the Dow Championship: a tie for 27. Currently, she ranks 144 in the Race to CME Globe. Her world ranking has nosedived to 144. She was on the verge of losing her Tour card for the next season. But the California native can use her ranking in the LPGA Tour money list to tee off next year as well. 

On her Instagram story, the former major winner shared clips from her practice session. “When the coaches are working together to get me where I want to be,” wrote the 32-year-old. It appears Kang wants to plug the holes before the next season begins.