FM CHAMPIONSHIP

September 1, 2024

Megan Khang

TPC Boston

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, I'm here with Megan Khang after her final round at the FM Championship. Megan, obviously this was a big week for you, one we were all excited about. Can you just give us maybe a short review of the week and how happy you are to have an event here in Boston finally under your belt?

MEGAN KHANG: You know, coming into this week I knew it was going to be a fun week and just kind of just really wanted to soak it all in. The crowd and the fans did not disappoint; neither did the golf course.

I would say everything ran a little more smoothly, if not better, than I could have imagined. Very proud to be an FM ambassador. Having an event like this is huge. I already can't wait until next year. It's been a lot of fun, and I can't wait to see more girls coming up to Massachusetts and having a grand ole time with all of us out here.

I know the crowds are going to cheer on some great golf, and looking at the leaderboard, it's pretty impressive to see these girls duking it out out there. I'm pretty excited to see who will come out on top.

Q. Are you proud of who you were this week? You were asked to be an ambassador and talk to a lot of people. Are you proud of the way you carried yourself and kind of what you were for the sport of golf this week?

MEGAN KHANG: You know, I would like to think I did a pretty good job. You know, I'm sure there are stuff I can improve on. For the most part, I knew it was very important for FM to have their ambassador be pretty interactive this week. I was more than happy it be that person just because I'm very excited to have this first event here in Massachusetts, and I know they are thrilled to be a part of the LPGA.

So whenever I had to do I was willing to do and I was more than happy to just because I wanted FM to have a great experience as well.

So hearing the crowd and getting pretty involved with kind of meeting the people behind FM after some of my rounds is pretty cool to see. I personally love getting to meet the faces behind the company.

You know, to see everything they've sacrificed and see some of the volunteers being FM employees, it speaks volumes to the kind of company FM is.

For me it's not just a sponsorship. It's more of a family atmosphere. I'm very proud to partner with FM.

Q. Is there a moment on any of the days that you paused and just looked around and just kind of just took the whole thing in?

MEGAN KHANG: Saturday was pretty special to me, especially being two ball, just Lexi and I. Like I said yesterday, it was pretty funny. I joked with Lexi walking off the first tee that that might have been the first time I heard roars louder for myself than her.

Just soaking it all in out there. Nerves can get the best of you. Despite having a 1-over day today I felt like I played relatively well. Clearly not at the top, but being in front of a home crowd, happy to make the weekend. Would've loved to perform a little better, but overall just kind of happy how I handled this week.

And with kind of some of the obligations I did have, trying to make the best of it and soak it all in, being here at home.

Q. Is there something you'll keep, whether the ball from Fenway or a picture of yourself on the course, anything that you'll save to kind of capture this and remember all of this for years to come in?

MEGAN KHANG: There are so many memories out there. I will definitely keep the ball from Fenway. I made a bogey by not bringing a Sharpie down for Liam to sign it, so have to meet up again sometime if he plays golf and have him sign it.

I'll probably get a little case for that and date it for myself, because that's pretty cool. It's not often you get to throw out the first pitch. Having that opportunity to showcase and bring attention to the women's game, I'm pretty sure some of those people in the stands might not have known there was a women's golf tournament coming to the area.

You get thousands of people at a Red Sox game now knowing about the LPGA. Who knows, maybe that little -- not little -- but that little instance brought a few more people than we would've seen. It's stuff like that that gets the LPGA a little bigger and a little more recognition.

Q. You mentioned the leaderboard. Kind of a lot of names up there. Said you'd be interested to watch yourself. If you were trying to sell this to people, hey, come back, would you use that? Seeing such a competitive, lead bouncing around? Do you think that's good that what happened this weekend? What do you think about that?

MEGAN KHANG: No, definitely. I mean, it's pretty crazy to think that after the second round, like you had a 10-under out there, and funny enough, unfortunately she -- Haeran -- may not have played as well as she wanted to Saturday, but as bad as she played she was only I want to say four or five back.

You look at her now, and she's right up there at the top. Just goes to show that golf is such a crazy game. This golf course has its challenges, and I think it just makes it that much more exciting. You have really great finishing holes here, and I think that's what you want in golf.

You kind of want the last few groups fighting for the first place finish. You know, I think it's a lot more fun. Crowd kind of gets a little more engaged. You pay a little more attention. You really watch down to the wire. I feel like it might come down to the wire, maybe even a playoff. Who knows.

I think it's great for the game and just shows we're super competitive out here. Even though it's a tough golf course, we can perform out here and, again, put on a great show.

Q. For Massachusetts fans that didn't make it this year, if the event comes back, what would you tell them they missed out on?

MEGAN KHANG: They missed out on world-class golfers out here. I think they can see how appreciative and gracious the girls are when it comes to the fans. Being biased from Massachusetts I felt like these are some of the biggest crowds we've had an a non-major event all year. Again, biased, but I'm very proud of the area that we come from.

You know, it's pretty cool to have so many people coming out, even on a Thursday, Friday. For those that aren't from the area school is starting, so it's cool to see this many kids out as well and parents allowing them to come out and watch us play.

It's pretty cool. I would say get ready for some roars because no matter who you are, you're going to hear some loud claps for you.

Q. Whether it's the event itself, hospitality, or just the awesome Boston food which you know a lot about, what was the best feedback you got from other players on tour who may have been visiting here for the first time?

MEGAN KHANG: A lot of the word that was spread around was that FM did an amazing job of hospitality. It's something that we weren't necessarily expecting. I kind of gave FM a little insight to what the girls would like in a tournament.

To say they went above and beyond isn't enough. They put on this huge dinner Thursday after the round, and like I personally love lobsters and lobster rolls, tenderloin, salmon, so many options. They didn't have to do that.

Put the girls up in a hotel. They didn't have to do anything in that sense. We go to tournaments here and there just on our own dime, but it's pretty cool to see tournaments like FM, like the JM Eagle, putting girls up in hotels and really incentivizing them to play.

And providing a missed cut stipend.

FM has done so much for the girls this week. I feel like they're not done yet, so that makes me more proud to wear them.

Q. Your professional career, question about that. Not too long ago one of your only sponsors or you had a lot less, Mass Golf, about three years ago. So is it fair to say that your win was the breakthrough for your career and that's when the phone started ringing and you started to really meet your potential out here on the tour? What was the breakthrough point if you had to look back in the seven-year span?

MEGAN KHANG: So like when I first came on tour I was very fortunate that my one sponsor was a golf club that I played growing up in junior golf. It was mainly because the head pro there tried to go professional himself on the PGA TOUR; didn't make it; knew how hard it was.

The golf course is Connecticut National out in Putnam, Connecticut. The two owners, head pro, Jim West, went to the owners and was like, hey guys, it's super hard out there for anyone to kind of make a living.

The two owners were Jim Dandeneau and Brad Rabitor who were amazing. They gave me a check. I wore them on my visor. Essentially my parents were like, that's all you're getting, because we couldn't really afford to have this lavish lifestyle. It kind of put things into perspective.

Then coming on to the scene I had a good friend, John Lawrence, on my left sleeve with his company tournament solutions. I was just like as a family friend, and I think as I got on tour longer, started performing a little better, I think I started to meet a few more people.

I would like to say golf, definitely playing good golf definitely helped me get some of the sponsorships. I'd like to think that the relationships that I have with these people and these companies are a touch more of the reason why we are such good partners.

Golf is great and all, but I think I would like to kind of take some credit in my personality and being able to form these relationships and have an enjoyable time out there. I've been very fortunate enough to get sponsors out of programs without necessarily looking.

So it's pretty cool to say that, yeah, golf, my performance in golf has definitely catapulted me in getting sponsorships like FM and Mutual of Omaha and stuff like that. At the end of the day, I would like to think personality has a good way of having a little more, let's say, a cherry on top.

Q. What's tonight, tomorrow, can you finally exhale a little bit and have your time be your time for a little bit?

MEGAN KHANG: Yeah, definitely. This week definitely was a lot, but I wouldn't change it for anything. Tonight actually I'm taking a couple friends out to the north end, so that will be a fun day. See what transpires from the night.

Probably have a nice night out. Have some nice Italian food, and for me, I'm going home. They all got to catch a flight. It'll be a good time.

Q. I just wanted to ask you, I asked you this at the Grant Thornton. You don't have any intention to have a residence in Florida or somewhere south in the winter months? You still call home the Boston area. Will that stay true?

MEGAN KHANG: I just bought a place in Medford, so I'm staying here for a while. I mean, I get that question a lot, and I just love it up here. I love having the winter season. I still love to snowboarding and being around family and friends. Our off-season is so short that I really soak it all in and enjoy my time at home, because when we're on the road it's weeks in, weeks out, and maybe a week home here and there.

For the most part, I love being at home, and Massachusetts will always be home. My boyfriend is even like, we should move to Florida. I'm like, no, I'm good. I'm lucky to have friends that are willing to host me when I go down to Florida before the season starts.

I think having those friendships also gives me less of a reason wanting to move down to Florida.

Q. For and you Lexi, it starts with the Solheim Cup. Had a chance to play consecutive days together out there. What's it like out there, the chemistry between you two? How would you see one another as partners in Solheim Cup's various formats?

MEGAN KHANG: Playing with Lexi is always fun. Going to have a great crowd when I play with her. Kind of going based off how we played last year at Solheim Cup. Lexi he a striking the ball and pouring in putts here. She made two long, or I guess one long eagle putt and stripped an eagle shot, and she had six feet today for -- on No. 7 for eagle.

She is playing some great golf right now. I couldn't be more happy to see her on the team. I have a feeling she's going to kick some butt coming up this two weeks.

Q. At one point you were put on the clock out there today. Then looked like she kind of fired right back with an eagle on the next. That give her some zip?

MEGAN KHANG: Definitely saves some time when you hole a 40-foot putt for eagle.

I think we did get a little behind. I think we kind of struggled as a group in the beginning, but it wasn't terrible. I think I'm a relatively fast player, so I don't really have an issue with the whole warning and the timing situation.

But I think she kind of got into a flow. She birdied 11; eagled 12; honestly could have birdied a couple more holes coming in. For the most part she's playing some great golf. We had to do some up and downs here and there. For the most part, I don't think the timing really affected us a lot.

Q. Did other players treat you like a bank of information about the area? Were you the travel agent for anybody or answering any questions about Boston?

MEGAN KHANG: I felt bad because I am very much from the South Shore area and I live in Medford now. It was kind of hard to tell people advice for the go-to spots around here. I can't tell you what's in Norton. If you come to Boston I'll let you know. I got all the spots there if you're willing to drive in the traffic.

I told them Legacy Place is great, Patriot Place, pretty close to the hotel. If they wanted to, Rhode Island, Providence wasn't a terrible spot as well. I felt bad just because I was also staying at home for the first couple days, so I was like oh, do you want to come to dinner in Boston? Not many people are going to want to do that drive.

Q. You've talked a lot about the crowd this whole week. Can you just kind of give how you felt seeing the crowd from day one to today?

MEGAN KHANG: I loved it. You know, the crowd is incredible. Like I've always said Massachusetts is very much a sports town, Boston is a sports town. The way the crowd came out and showed up for the LPGA, it means the world to me. Not only because being from here, but to see like how big women's golf is here in New England and to see all these junior golfers and some girls that maybe -- I practice at Harmon, and they practice there now.

To see like them coming up to me, oh, I practice where you used to practice, or even some members coming out, it's really cool. I mean, just putts a huge smile on my face because it just makes me so proud to be from here, which is also parted of reason I don't want to move to Florida.

I wear Massachusetts as like a huge badge of honor, and I'm very prideful of it.

Q. You talked about how well FM has been treating you. Do you think that's a testament to the growth of women's sports?

MEGAN KHANG: Definitely. Women's golf has come a long way. FM being that first sponsor to put a $3.8 million purse that's a non-major is incredible. I feel like they see the potential. They see what women golf brings and kind of see how much of a family atmosphere this is.

It's really cool to see not only young girls but young boys coming out here and knowing all the girls' names. Just shows how much bigger the game, women's golf is becoming. Obviously the men are incredible golfers as well.

It's nice to kind of almost be catching up to them one step at a time.