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On a day when the top two finishers in the Buick LPGA Shanghai failed to break 70, Megan Khang posted the low round of the day, an 8-under 64 that included a hole-in-one on the 11th hole at Qizhong Garden Golf Club. It vaulted her into a tie for seventh place with Ariya Jutanugarn.
It was Khang’s seventh top-10 finish of a season in which she earned a spot on the U.S. Solheim Cup team. And while Khang lost two points in the first two days of those September matches, she scratched out a halve against England’s Charley Hull in Sunday singles in the Americans’ narrow loss to Europe. Not a great showing, but not an embarrassment either, especially for a 21-year-old.
Think about what you were doing at 21. Think about the leeway you give youngsters today. Think about how often you say, “They’re only 21.” This is Khang’s fourth year on tour. Granted she’s still winless, but the expectations for young pros on the LPGA Tour have been skewed by players such as Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson and Brooke Henderson. The more reasonable model is current world No. 1 Jin Young Ko, who is 24 years old and didn’t win on the LPGA Tour until two years ago.
Khang turned pro at age 18 in January 2016 without the exceptional amateur pedigree of other teenage superstars. Her parents were refugees who escaped Laos after the Vietnam War and settled in Massachusetts. They arrived in America without jobs, family, or the ability to communicate in English. Nothing but a work ethic and a dream to make a better life. While they succeeded on that front, they never had the means to trek around the globe campaigning their daughter in high-level junior and amateur events. She played well in New England and select national competitions, but when she turned pro, she wasn’t sure how to check into a hotel on her own.
Today, she is comfortable contending at the highest level anywhere in the world.
In addition to an ace, her final round in Shanghai included six birdies. “I think I was 3 under making turn and then the hole-in-one happened and we just kind of like hit an (emotional) high. But then we were like, ‘OK, we have to calm down. We have (seven) more holes left.’
“Honestly, it was so cool. It was my first one as a professional in a tournament. I knew I hit a good shot and it was just on line. I watched it and was like, ‘Go in; do it.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, looks good,’ and (it) went in. It was exhilarating to see it go in. Sometimes you don't get to see the ball go in, but this was really cool.
“The camera guy came up right as I went to go pick up the ball out of the hole. But, it landed like perfectly, just onto the green like we planned, and kind of rolled in like a putt. So it was perfect line, perfect speed.”
That last line sums up Khang’s year and her career so far. It might be slower than some would expect, but for her, it’s been the perfect line and speed.
Staff and Wire Reports