By Brenda June Temple

CPKC Women’s Open

Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club | Vancouver, BC | August 24-27, 2023

Final-Round Notes

Aug. 27, 2023

Course Setup: 36-36—72, 6,577

Scoring Average: R1: 75.239; R2: 74.039; R3: 73.282; R4: 72.422

Weather: Dry and sunny conditions with temperatures warming up to the upper 70s in the afternoon; winds peaking W/NW at 8-10mph with a few gusts near 14mph possible

Race to CME Globe Points: 500 (winner)

Purse: $2.5 million (winner’s portion is $375,000)

TV/Streaming Times: How to Watch

MEGAN KHANG EARNS FIRST-CAREER VICTORY IN PLAYOFF AT CPKC WOMEN’S OPEN

It took 73 holes at Shaunghessy Golf and Country Club, but in the end it was a sight to be had – American Megan Khang became the season’s ninth Rolex First-Time Winner at the CPKC Women’s Open, defeating former World No. 1 Jin Young Ko in a playoff.

Heading into Sunday with a three-stroke lead, Khang recorded two bogeys on the front nine on Nos. 3 and 6 to bring the rest of the field like Ko and Sei Young Kim back into contention. A third bogey after the turn was quickly erased with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 11 and 12, showing Khang wasn’t going down without a fight. But her fourth and fifth bogeys of the day on Nos. 13 and 17 came into play allowing Ko to take the solo lead as Khang approached the 18th green.

“You know, it was tough today,” Khang said about her play on the first 17 holes. “I knew in my head I had a three-shot lead. You don’t really think about results, but of course you want to get the win at the end of the day. It took a little longer than regulation to get it done, but Sei Young was kind of pushing me the whole day and I was trying not to think about what she was doing. I couldn’t help it. I think at one point we were only one shot apart. On 16 I looked at the leaderboard and I saw I was tied with Jin Young and I was like, oh, yeah, got a couple people to worry about. At the end of the day, Jack was kind of reassuring me, hey, let’s go do our own thing. We can’t control what they’re doing.”

Ko went into the scoring tent in the penultimate group and signed for a 3-under 69 to get to -9, thanks to four birdies and a lone bogey on the 11th, and proceeded to the clubhouse to await her fate. Khang approached the green on 18 staring down a four-foot putt for birdie, which would tie Ko at 9-under and force a playoff. With all of Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club holding their breath, Khang sunk the birdie putt and the two went back to the 18^th tee.

An errant drive off the tee for Ko all but sealed the win for Khang, who striped her drive down the fairway. Ko took an unplayable and then sent it into the green-side bunker before hitting on and two-putting for bogey, effectively giving Khang her first LPGA Tour win in her 191st start.

“There were definitely nerves. I was shaking signing my scorecard. I triple checked that scorecard to make sure everything was correct and we did sign,” Khang said about heading into the playoffs. “You know, I was very thankful to have some friends out there who were right there telling me I got this and that they’re there for me. It’s always nice when you have that kind of friendship out here on tour. That playoff I tried to stay in my own little world. I didn’t know where Jin Young had hit her tee shot. I was just trying to keep my head down and stay in the moment and not get ahead of myself.”

Ko’s runner-up performance was her first top-10 finish since her win at the Cognizant Founders Cup in May. KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winner Ruoning Yin shot the lowest score of the day, a bogey-free 66 with six birdies, to propel her into a third-place finish, her second third-place finish in her last three events.

Hannah Green and Sei Young Kim, who joined Khang in the final grouping, finished in a tie for fourth at -6. Green shot a 3-under 69 while Kim struggled under the pressure, notching five bogeys to only three birdies to finish with a Sunday 74. Lauren Coughlin and Linn Grant tied for sixth at -5, and In Geen Chun, Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Yuka Saso rounded out the top 10 in a tie for eighth at -3. Brooke Henderson finished as the low Canadian in a tie for 13th at -2 overall after a final round 68.

A LOOK AT THE CHAMPION

ABOUT THE CHAMPION

Rolex Rankings No. 27 Megan Khang

• Khang hit 6 of 14 fairways, 12 of 18 greens with 33 putts in her final round
  • She led the field this week in total birdies with 19
• She becomes the season’s ninth Rolex First-Time Winner, joining Lilia Vu (Honda LPGA Thailand), Ruoning Yin (DIO Implant LA Open), Grace Kim (LOTTE Championship), Rose Zhang (Mizuho Americas Open), Allisen Corpuz (U.S. Women’s Open), Linn Grant (Dana Open), Elizabeth Szokol (Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational) and Alexa Pano (ISPS Handa World Invitational)
  • She is the sixth different American winner this season
  • She is the third consecutive American winner on the LPGA Tour
    • It is the first time three-straight Americans have won on tour since 2021
• She wins her first CPKC Women’s Open in her sixth start at this event
  • She is the first American to win the CPKC Women’s Open since Brittany Lincicome in 2011
  • She is only the third American to win the CPKC Women’s Open since 2010
  • She is the 18th different player to win the CPKC Women’s Open since 2001
• This marks her first playoff appearance and win as a Member of the LPGA Tour
  • She is the first player to win in a playoff against one player since Zhang
• Her final-round 74 ties the highest final round score by an LPGA Tour winner this season with Rose Zhang
• This is her 16th event of the 2023 season
  • Her previous season-best finish was a tie for third at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
  • She has only missed two cuts so far this season and has four top-10 finishes
  • She has clinched a spot on the U.S. Solheim Cup Team for 2023, her third appearance in the event
• This is her eighth season on Tour
  • Her previous career-best finish was a second place finish earned at the 2022 Dana Open
  • She has recorded an additional 33 top-10 finishes on Tour in her career

THINGS TO KNOW

• The last time the CPKC Women’s Open ended with a playoff was in 2015 at the Vancouver Golf Club won by Lydia Ko over Stacy Lewis
• Only seven players recorded multiple rounds in the 60s this week:
  • In Gee Chun, Lauren Coughlin, Linn Grant, Brooke Henderson, Khang, Sei Young Kim, Jin Young Ko and Alena Sharp
• Ko earns her ninth runner-up finish of her LPGA Tour career
  • After today, Ko falls to 2-1 in playoff appearances
  • She also earns her 52nd career top-10 and her sixth this season, which includes two wins
• Ruoning Yin finished third after posting the lowest final-round score, 6-under 66 to jump up from T11
  • She went bogey-free with six recorded birdies
  • It is her second time finishing third this season and in her career
  • She earned her sixth top-10 finish of her career and her fifth this season
• Hannah Green and Sei Young Kim rounded out the top five at T4
  • Green eagled on the par-5 No. 11 out of the sand to help loft her up the leaderboard
    • She claimed just her second top-10 finish this season and the 21st of her career
  • Kim ended +2 after her final round to secure her first top-10 of the season and her 64th in her career
    • Kim has now recorded her fourth top-10 finish in seven starts at the CPKC Women’s Open
• Weiwei Zhang and Nanna Koerstz Madsen both carded two eagles in their final round
  • They become the 17th and 18th  different players this season to card two eagles in one round, and the second player this week along with Sei Young Kim in the third round
• Brooke Henderson earned the Sandra Post Medal given to the lowest Canadian after going -4 in her final round to get her to a T13 finish at -2
  • Alena Sharp was the only other Canadian to make the cut and finished T36

QUOTABLE

Megan Khang (1, 279) on if winning for the first time at the CPKC Women’s Open made it more special:

“It definitely does. I love coming to Canada every year. I don’t think I’ve ever skipped this event and I don’t think I’m going to plan to ever even more now. No, I mean, it’s just an incredible feeling. There is so much history that goes on behind this tournament. You know, Lorie Kane is a such a great mentor. I saw her this week. She said, go do your thing out there, kid. It’s pretty cool having one the Canadian greats out there just kind of hanging around and feel free to talk to her about any tips and how to calm down. So it’s pretty cool. The crowds are very welcoming. The people are great. Every time I come to Canada these golf courses are a challenge.”

Brooke Henderson (T13, 286) on the support she saw from the crowd this week:

“It’s phenomenal. Just the love, support, all the people that came out to watch. They didn’t really care what I was shooting, which was also really nice. They were just happy to be out here watching. I can’t really thank them enough, and it means so much to me. I am happy though that I played a little better today and I could maybe put a few more smiles on their faces.”

Jin Young Ko (2, 279) on what her mindset was coming into Sunday:

“Well, I didn’t expect I would play in the playoff, because five shot behind Megan, but I know if I got lots of birdies it would be chance to win. It was close, but, yeah, I played really well today — I mean, the last four days awesome, so I’m really happy to be back in great performance from my game. Yeah, always happy to playing in front of like Canadians in Canada.”

NOTABLE

Megan Khang Earns 1^st win, and Anrea Lee Earns Solheim Cup Spot at CPKC Women’s Open

After Near-Misses, Trish Johnson Claims the 5th U.S. Senior Women’s Open

Final-Round Highlights | 2023 CPKC Women’s Open

Megan Khang Final-Round Interview | 2023 CPKC Women’s Open

Megan Khang’s Winning Putt

TOURNAMENT SCORING RECORDS

18 holes: 62, Paula Reto (R1, 2022), Lindy Duncan (R2, 2022), Mo Martin (R4, 2018), Song-Hee Kim (R2, 2009)

36 holes: 129, Narin An (2022)

54 holes: 196, So Yeon Reyu (2014)

72 holes: 262, Jin Young Ko (2019)

COURTESY LPGA TOUR COMMUNICATIONS