PALOS VERDES CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY BANK OF AMERICA

April 28, 2022

Megan Khang

Palos Verdes Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, Megan, what a way to close with three consecutive birdies there. Take me through what ended so well for you.

MEGAN KHANG: You know, I made a silly bogey at 14 I want to say.

Gave myself an opportunity at 15 and kind of -- it lipped out again.

And so I was just kind of like, you know what, Jack, let's keep it going. We were deciding to go for the green or not on 16 and I was like, Hey, let's just full send it. Got it into the bunker, got up and down.

And then 17 I was just trying to like give to a good stroke, a good putt, and like it caught the hole and lipped in and I was like, okay, things are turning.

And then thankfully 18 was downwind today, so that definitely helped have shorter club in.

So when you hit a good shot you kind of have to capitalize, and thankfully we did. To finish out with three birdies is always a great way to go onto the second round.

Q. How long were those putts on 16, 17, and 18?

MEGAN KHANG: 16 was probably maybe like two, three feet. It was out of the bunker. It was greenside bunker.

And then 17 was quite far. It was probably like 36 to 40 feet. My steps are small, so I'm not sure.

Q. I feel that.

MEGAN KHANG: Then again, like 18 was probably like a five- to six-footer. A lot of these putts have a ton of break on them so you got to really trust your line and do the best you can.

Jack and I been talking about if you're stroking it well, we just got to give ourself chances, and soon enough they're going to drop. Thankfully it's starting to look like they're dropping.

Q. This is definitely a grind of a golf course out here with the hills; not something we're used to an a day-to-day basis. What was the mindset and strategy as you planned your week this week?

MEGAN KHANG: Honestly, you know, everyone is going to walk the same golf course. Hopefully you only have to walk it the four times given four rounds, minus the practice rounds.

And, you know, I was joking with Jack the whole time walking up the hills. I was like, Hopefully I grow a butt after this. It's a great work out. You know, going to get that summer skinny body.

Q. We also talked with Allisen this past week. I know that the two of you are close. She mentioned how the two of you are close. I know you're close with a lot of people out here, but she went to USC. She's familiar with this course. She's off to a nice start herself. What's that relationship like?

MEGAN KHANG: You know, Allisen and I go way back. I think we were both like seven or eight years old, and I'm so happy she's out here now. We talked about it as little kids, and for her to come out here, qualify through Q-Series on her first go, you know, like -- I don't know if she said this, but she was on the fence of whether or not she wanted to go to Q-Series.

I was like Hey, we dreamed about this. You might as well give it a shot. And like fortunately like the time came around and she was feeling really good about her golf, made it in one go, and like I'm so happy to see her playing so well out here already.

I know my rookie year I was kind of star struck by everyone. I was 18. But whether or not you're 18 or 24 now, it's still incredible to be playing with the best in the world and now you are one of them, and so I'm super proud of her and like proud of us in general.

So it's a great friendship that's come a long way and it's only going to keep growing from here on out.

Q. What's it like to be kind of a mentor out here for someone like her?

MEGAN KHANG: I am not a mentor. I will be the first to say I am not a mentor. We're just really good friends. You know, out here we are equals. There is no I'm better than you or you're better than me kind of situation.

So that's how I look at it. Our friendship kind of shows in the same way. Whenever she has a question she can come to me, and I know she has Emma Talley as her pod like big sister.

So I told her like if you don't feel comfortable going her, you can come to me. Then like I know Emma is one of the nicest people on tour, so it's kind of hard not to go to Emma. So it's nice to see she's making her way around.

Q. For you, going back to this week, this is a grind. How important is it to come off this and rest for at least a little bit before you head out tomorrow?

MEGAN KHANG: I mean, thankfully like morning tee time means afternoon second day, so honestly I have no idea what I'm going to do for the rest of the day. I am going to try to not overdo it. Again, I don't want to over-exhaust myself.

Growing up my parents always told me like golf is definitely a marathon and not a sprint. So just not overdo it, try and relax, and maybe do like a little coffee run. I didn't get my coffee this morning, so going to try a new coffee shop.

Other than that, really just lay low.

Q. Does a round like this make you feel like your game is trending in the right direction?

MEGAN KHANG: Definitely. I mean, like obviously like I've missed a couple more cuts that I'm used to already this season, and so I was telling Jack, you know, ball striking is there; putt stroke is there.

Honestly, I've taken a lot of positives even from the missed cuts, and, you know, I'm very happy with the way my golf is trending.

So, you know, we're kind of just saying like, Hey, it's going to peak at the right time, it's going to peak at the right time. As long as you stay patient, do what we can control, it's only a matter of time before something clicks and putts will drop and the score is going to reflect how I feel I'm playing.