Two years ago, Jimin Kang (Seoul, South Korea) couldn’t even walk or breathe on her own. On Friday, she carded a 4-under 68 to move into a tie for third at 5-under 139.
“When you play well, everything is working,” said Kang, who carded five birdies against just one bogey. “I hit the ball on the fairways, hit them close and then rolled them in. It was as simple as that.”
The three-time Epson Tour winner and two-time LPGA Tour winner missed nearly the entire 2013 season when her immune system failed. According to Kang, she was misdiagnosed with asthma and allergy symptoms that made the simplest things like breathing difficult.
“I’m just thankful to be out here and be able to walk and breathe on my own,” said Jang. “Breathing on your own is not an easy job, I learned that because I’ve been there before. I’m just thankful that I can breathe on my own without any medication.”
At one point, she was taking 15 shots a week and taking nine pills a day to try and solve the problem.
“I was too busy chasing a doctor around and getting shots, I couldn’t compete on the LPGA Tour,” said Jang. “My friend who is a good doctor told me that I need to do something else so I went to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.”
When she went to the Mayo Clinic, doctors got her off the medication and she had to work to rebuild her immune system completely.
“Doctors told me I’d have to learn how to walk again,” said Jang. “I said ‘let’s fast forward, when are my going to be able to play golf again? The doctors told me a few years, but I didn’t have much time.”
Jang tried to push herself back onto the LPGA Tour in 2014 and played in 15 events, but now realizes that she needed more time. She is currently No. 173 on the LPGA Tour priority list so she has played in two Epson Tour events this year with hopes of returning to the LPGA full-time in 2016.
“The Epson Tour gives me a great opportunity to get back onto the LPGA Tour,” said Kang. “I decided to come back out here to rebuild my immune system, health, golf game and really everything. I’m really starting all over again.”
Kang won the 2005 LPGA Corning Classic and the 2010 Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia. She has 14 career top 10 finishes on the LPGA Tour.
Kang earned her LPGA Tour card in 2005 after leading the Epson Tour’s money list in 2004. She will go for her fourth career Epson Tour win this weekend.
“It will be great if I can win this week because it will be rewarding with all this work I’ve put in.”
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