By: Max Bechtoldt
Late in Sunday’s final round of the Drive On Championship at Bradenton Country Club, Megan Khang was caught on camera whispering to and kissing her putter. The same putter that kept her out of the winner’s circle at the end.
While Khang came into the final round of the Drive On Championship four strokes back of eventual winner Nelly Korda, she didn’t have to shoot a spectacular round to win. The course was playing difficult and at times it seemed nobody was interested in winning. On the front nine Khang shot -2, which was good enough to put her firmly in the mix. She did stumble on nine with a 3-putt bogey that included an ugly short miss.
That would only be the beginning.
Khang went +3 on her back nine, which included 3-putt bogeys on 14, 15 and 16. In total, Khang shot +1 with a startling 37 putts for the round. Despite hitting 17 greens she was still over par.
The crushing part of it all? Khang finished just three strokes back of the win, and was striking the ball well enough to do so.
Regardless of how it happened, this was still a positive week for Khang, who just won her first LPGA Tour event last season. She finished in solo third for the week and has moved securely into the top 15 in the Rolex Rankings. If she shrugs off this putting performance, she is in line to have a great season.
