At just 25 years old, Khang has competed in several golf tournaments and won her first big tournament recently at the LPGA CPKC Women’s Open in 2023. Standing at 5 ‘1, she has been playing golf ever since she was a little girl and decided to go into the professional world after high school in 2015.
Khang has an average driving range of 260 yards, placing her 85th among other LPGA players. Since her rookie year in 2016, she has played in 171 professional events. Khang, the first LPGA player of Hmong and Laotian descent, hails from Rockland, Massachusetts.
Khang’s parents were refugees of the Vietnam War and escaped to America through Laos in the 1970s. Khang was born on October 23rd, 1997, and began to play golf by following and learning from her father. She competed in the United States Golf Association’s U.S. Girls’ Championship for 7 years, and helped Team USA in the Junior Solheim Cup, leading them to a win being the only player with a 5-0 record. At just 14 years old, she qualified for her very first of many US Women’s Opens in 2012. After graduating from Rockland High School, Khang decided her passion was golf, so she decided to not go to college and focus on her professional golf career. She competed in the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament in 2015, finishing T-6, and tied for 6th place among more than 150 players.
Khang credits a large portion of her success and driving force to her father, as she followed him to learn the sport. Bottomline, she grew up learning the game from her father. individuality of golf in that your performance does not mess up the team score. Megan started competing at the age of 6, which was when she decided to set her heart on going down the route of professional golf. Having her dad as her golf coach gave her the advantage of having an on-call golf coach, allowing her to consistently practice after school to become the star that she is now. Before going professional, she competed in the USGA U.S. Girls’ Championship for seven years. She won the Junior Solheim Cup with Team USA, qualifying for the Kingsmill Championship in 2015. She finished T35 as a low amateur at the U.S.Women’s Open in 2015.
She won her first big tournament in August 2023, the LPGA CPKC Women’s Open, where she beat Ko Jin-Young, who has won the LPGA of Korea tour ten times. Khang took home $375,000 from her win, boosting her all-time career earnings to more than $5 million. In a world where money determines whether you stay in the game, your income is determined by the games that you play and the cuts that you make. If you’re not making any money when playing as part of a tour, there is a chance you can get dropped.
Khang now ranks 14th on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, and 20th on the Race to the CME Globe. She continues to be a trailblazer for Asians on the professional golf course. Khang partners with Golf Fore Africa, which works to bring clean water to communities in rural Zambia. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding, skiing, fishing, and watching Netflix. Since she has turned pro, she has competed in three Solheim Cups and has consistently made cuts and landed in the top 10 spots. There is no doubt that she will continue on this impressive course.
SAMPAN: Can you share your journey into the world of golf? What initially sparked your interest in the sport, and how did you start?
KHANG: When my dad was 32, he learned to play golf by reading books and watching videos. He went on to become a self-made golf coach, and I was his first student. I first started golfing with him when I was five years old. At first, I liked going because he would buy me ice cream and let me drive the golf cart. What kid wouldn’t love that? But I quickly fell in love with the sport and looked forward to going just so that I could play again. My dad started entering me in local and state junior tournaments, and when my parents realized I had a knack for the game, my dad quit his job to help me follow my dream.
SAMPAN: How did the dynamic change between playing leisurely and playing professionally, if it did? Do you still enjoy it like you used to, now that this is your career?
KHANG: I qualified for my first U.S. Women’s Open at 14 years old and started to think that I wanted to do this forever. I turned pro straight out of high school at 18 years old, and I qualified for the LPGA Tour on my first attempt. My dad has always been crazy in love with golf, and he passed that on to me. Even after all these years, I still just love getting to play.
SAMPAN: As a rising star in the golfing world, what advice would you give to aspiring young golfers who hope to follow in your footsteps?
KHANG: Golf should be fun. Have games and competitions. Have a putting contest. Try to make it interesting. Golf is an individual sport, and if you’re not having fun, what’s the point? To improve your game, you need to know your weaknesses and continue to work on them. My encouragement would be to always give it 100% so that you can never look back and say, “I could have done it if I had tried harder.” If you’re going to fail, do so knowing that you did everything you could to succeed. And even when you do succeed, strive to be even better the next time. Golf is such a hard and finicky game, and you have to believe in yourself and find a way to stay confident regardless of your scores.
SAMPAN: Looking ahead, what are your goals and aspirations in your golf career? Is there a particular tournament or achievement you’re aiming for soon?
KHANG: I’m so grateful for what I’ve accomplished so far in my career, and 2023 stands out as an incredibly special year for me with my first win and my third Solheim Cup appearance. I hope 2024 has even more wonderful things in store. I would be honored to represent the United States in the 2024 Solheim Cup. Some other goals include becoming a major winner, reaching number one in the world, and being inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame one day. I would also love to be a part of growing junior golf and women’s golf in New England where I grew up. I see that community as a part of my family, and I would love to give back to make the dream I am living possible for more and more people.
