BOSTON -- It's been far too long since the LPGA Tour had an annual stop in New England, let alone Massachusetts, and perhaps no one on tour is more excited than Meghan Khang.
The LPGA Tour will make its return to the region for a late-summer showdown when the inaugural FM Championship kicks off at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass. It marks the first professional women's stop in New England since the 2004 U.S. Women's Open held in South Hadley, Mass., and the Tour hasn't made a Boston stop since 1997.
For Megan Khang, a Brockton, Mass., native, the return is a long time coming. Khang grew up attending the PGA Tour's annual Labor Day stop at TPC Boston for the tournament formerly known as the Deutsche Bank Invitational (among other names). Now, she gets to tee it up on her home turf while showing off New England as a golf hotbed to the rest of the LPGA Tour.
"I'm very excited to have all the girls come to my home state and kind of show them around," Khang said at a recent media day for the event." ... I know not only family and friends are going to come out and support not just me, but they're going to see some great golf. The girls are going to put on a great show."
Khang returns home playing arguably the best golf of her career. She has finished no worse than 30th on the LPGA Tour money list since 2020. The 2023 campaign was the peak thus far, as she picked off her first career win at the CPKC Women's Open while racking up seven top-10 finishes in 21 events and placing 18th on the money list.
Speaking of money, FM announced a purse of $3.8 million on the line for the tournament, which might have Massachusetts golfing legend Pat Bradley angling for a sponsor's exemption.
"At ($3.8 million), I can dust off my (tour) card maybe," she joked. "It's just thrilling to know we have these tremendous athletes that have great game and everybody in this new England area is going to witness these great players. I'm excited to cheer them on and to be there and watch this great tournament unfold."
She won't be alone. If recent PGA Tour stops are any sign, the galleries will be big -- and loud. The LPGA Tour says ticket sales are strong, and Khang thinks her peers will get a kick out of playing in front of a golf-starved audience getting its first taste of pro golf in more than two years.
"Boston sports fans are diehard sports fans, and that's what I think of," Khang told NESN.com. "No matter what event it is, you're gonna have a great show up because Boston loves sports. New England loves their sports. It's pretty cool that the first time (pro) golf is coming back (to Massachusetts) is an LPGA event."
Bradley believes the underserved New England golf fan will make the most of the chance.
"The galleries, I mean, we have a very short window. So when we get golf tournaments here, people support it," the six-time major champion told NESN.com.
The first round tees of Aug. 29 at TPC Boston, and tickets are already on sale for local fans clamoring for their latest taste of pro golf in the Commonwealth.
