There’s a reason why many players who win, especially those who win for the first time, choose not to play the tournament the following week. Because it’s exhausting.
Megan Khang, who won for the first time on the LPGA Tour at last week’s CPKC Women’s Open, is playing once more this week at the Portland Classic.
And the newest winner in the women’s game is feeling quite tired.
Khang said she’s doing her best to take her time, pace herself, and not overly tax herself away from the golf course. The strategy has paid off through the first 36 holes as Khang has managed back-to-back rounds of 66, with two eagles, and sits at 12-under par heading into the weekend.
“It's been kind of like a long week it feels like, but overall I think I've kind of just come to this week kind of going, ‘hey, game is in a good place,’” Khang said after her round on Friday. “Mentally a little tired, but sometimes that can be a good thing. Just not over-exhausting myself out there and take it one shot at time and relax when I can out there.”
Friday, Khang was maybe even a little too relaxed. Playing alongside Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Nanna Koerstz Madsen, the trio began their day on the back nine, and Khang says her group was given a warning after their third hole of the day to pick up the pace a bit or they would be put on the clock. Khang says they never were placed on the clock and played a little faster over the remainder of that nine.
“Wasn't really good time for us to kind of relax until kind of the back nine, until you got to the reachable par-5s. So it was pretty fun out there,” Khang said about her eagle she made at the par-5 5th. “You can take little mental breaks in between your shot and the other players in the group. So I think trying to just escape into my own little world throughout the entire round just helps.”
Khang has tried to escape into another world this week while away from the course as well. She says she began watching a new series on Netflix called The Ultimatum, which tests couples relationships. And while the first-time winner might be tired this week, it's certainly been worth it for Khang who has made sure to celebrate getting her long-awaited first victory on the LPGA Tour, which came in her 191st start.
“I feel like it's just been kind of like go, go, go, because I did get here pretty late Tuesday and went straight to go play. Had a late pro-am yesterday and, again, was just trying to recover the best I could given the celebration antics,” Khang said on Thursday from Portland. “But it's something I wouldn't take away and something I just embraced because there was no better feeling than that Sunday.”
Khang is well-positioned heading into the weekend, where this Sunday she’ll be looking to match what has already been done once before this season: win back-to-back. Celine Boutier accomplished the feat with her victories at the Amundi Evian Championship and FREED GROUP Women’s Scottish Open. Khang is doing all the right things to make that happen, opening with back-to-back rounds of 66, getting plenty of rest and, of course, watching Netflix.
“It's so dramatic and it's wicked funny,” Khang said about her new Netflix binge. “So I guess that's how I'm kind of decompressing.”
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