CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

December 17, 2020

Megan Khang

Tiburón Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Nice bogey-free 5-under to start your fifth straight CME Group Tour Championship. No bogeys and you had birdies on 1, 2, 6, 15, and 17. Maybe take us through one or two that stood out.

MEGAN KHANG: Definitely. I mean, all birdies were great, and, I mean, I took advantage of the par-5s today, which was really good.

I guess like none of them really stood out. I gave myself a ton of opportunities and just kind of wanted to continue that momentum from last week and carry into this week. Just keep playing my own game in the sense of making putts and pars when we need to.

Q. You really have that momentum going. Best finish in a major last week at the U.S. Women's Open. I think after one of the rounds you said the same thing. Bogey-free round and you said you'll take that any day of the week.

How good is it to be playing the best golf at the two biggest events of the year?

MEGAN KHANG: It's definitely a great feeling. To go bogey-free any week, whether it's a major or a regular event or the Tour Championship, it's always a great accomplishment and something that I hold near and dear, because it's definitely hard to do out there.

And just try to get more of them.

Q. This is your fifth straight CME Group Tour Championship. Do you feel more comfortable each and every year on this course?

MEGAN KHANG: I definitely feel more comfortable. I mean, given the U.S. Women's Open ended on Monday, so it was definitely hard to, I guess, get a ton of practice out here just being exhausted from the last two weeks before, and obviously with the Pro-Ams.

So I was very fortunate to know the course and just kind of play nine holes and get as much rest as I could coming into the week.

Q. Each year your first round score has gotten better.

MEGAN KHANG: Really?

Q. Yep. Stating off fast. How important is that in an event when you are playing against the best from the season out here?

MEGAN KHANG: I mean, honestly, it's great to start fast but to -- just got to keep it going for the rest of the week. Everyone one knows you can't win the golf course on the first day, but you can lose in the first.

I love that I'm giving myself a spot to be in contention, and just going to take it one day at a time, and most importantly one shot at a time.

Q. Kind of nice that they're repairing after each round.

MEGAN KHANG: Yeah, it's pretty cool.

Q. Give yourself a goal?

MEGAN KHANG: It's always great goal. I mean, obviously we're first off 10 today and you kind of see the leaderboard out there more so on the back nine, and it kind of just motivates you, or myself, to just kind of put yourself out there and maybe post a score and see how everyone else does.

Q. In obviously what's been a pretty unprecedented, crazy year, is there extra excitement for the season finale?

MEGAN KHANG: CME has done a great job being able to put this event on still with the amount of people that we're able to have here and just having like the extra personnel here family-wise.

It's a great effort from them. We really appreciate it. It's always an honor to play the Tour Championship.

Q. So speaking of that exhaustion coming in here on a Monday night, maybe Tuesday morning, yes the physical exhaustion is there, but how mentally exhausting is it to go from that best finish at a major the previous week, reset, refocus?

MEGAN KHANG: It's definitely hard, because, I mean, yes, it's my best finish in a major at the Women's Open, but at the same time, you got to restart for the new event and you don't really have time to decompress because it's a new golf course. You don't know how the conditions are. You just got to learn a whole new place.

I think playing here for the past four, five years it's definitely helped that I know the layout. I don't have to worry so much about placement on the golf course. It didn't really hit me -- I played nine holes Tuesday, and after the round I was like, I can't do anything. I just got to go back to the room.

Q. So looking at the conditions today, obviously started out pretty warm and hot and cooled off a little bit with the wind. How does that affect your game plan? Obviously made a lot of birdies today.

MEGAN KHANG: So honestly, I was really hoping that it wasn't going to rain, because my caddie texted me to bring the umbrella out of the room. I said yeah, yeah, I'll bring umbrella. I totally forgot the umbrella.

We made the turn and was it hot, but then in the background we could see the dark clouds and I was getting kind of worried. I was perfectly fine with the weather. Coming from last week anything is warmer, and it's always great to be in Florida playing golf.

Q. How do you keep your mindset in check with the hot start? How do you stay focused and realize you have three days of golf left?

MEGAN KHANG: Honestly, I like to just forget about it. It's a new day. You don't know how you're going to play the next day, so just soak it all in and enjoy the moment, because golf is a sport where you have to stay in the moment. You can't get ahead of yourself.