Sydney's experienced LPGA stalwart could hardly believe she was leading the field by two going into the final round of the Ladies European Tour event after shooting a brilliant eight-under par 62 at at Coffs Harbour on Saturday's 'moving day'.
Back in action seven months since breaking her tibia and fibula in a freak golf cart accident, Kemp, who had needed surgery after the compound fracture, beamed: "I had absolutely no expectations here, so I'm really shocked!"
The 39-year-old US-based Kemp, a 12-time tournament winner, is on 10 under after two rounds of the 54-hole event, two ahead of Belgium's Manon De Roey and Wales' Darcey Harry.
"Honestly, the goal was to just finish this week. With my leg injury, having had a compound leg fracture seven months ago, I've now got some screws in there. So there's a bit of pain, especially bending down," said Kemp.
"The goal was to just get back into tournament mode and be able to walk 18 holes."
Kemp holed long ones on the 6th, 11th, and 16th holes, and attributed her putting prowess to weeks of practice on a mat at home as she underwent her recovery after the operation.
"I'm sure it played a big help out there today, but I'm still shocked," said Kemp, who's back in Australia aiming for her first triumph in six years.
She's taken inspiration in her comeback from Tiger Woods' fightback from his car accident, even while admitting that the 15-time major winner's battle has been much tougher than hers.
"Seeing how he's gone about his recovery, which is 10 times worse, just made me think, 'Oh my God, am I going to limp for the rest of my life? Will I ever be able to play? Will I get my strength back'," said Kemp, before the tournament started.
"The first two months there was a lot of tears, a lot of sleepless nights."
Struggling when she took her first steps again on crutches 11 weeks after the accident, Kemp wondered if it might prove too much to get her career back on track.
"I was depressed. I thought that was it," she said.
"I remember bawling my eyes out as soon as I could drop the crutches.
"The gratitude of going back and just being able to walk … I feel like I took that for granted for my whole life.
"I'm just honestly so happy to be playing golf, that's all. Just being able to compete again and to come back and almost treat these as a little bit of a warm-up before I go back to the LPGA."
