Hello friends, and welcome to this edition of the Rogers Report! From attending the pro-am pairings party to getting a custom-made hat to celebrate the LPGA’s 75th anniversary to following hometown favorite Megan Khang at TPC Boston, I’ve had an incredible week covering the FM Championship.
This is awesome – at the end of the range at the FM Championship, there’s a very full LPGA-USGA Girls Golf Clinic going on! @FMGlobalpic.twitter.com/mdogDaFdZD
This tournament is truly one of a kind, and it was the perfect way to mark the (unofficial) end of summer here in New England. To the surprise of absolutely no one, there were a handful of superb press-conference moments throughout the week, which ended with Miranda Wang winning her first LPGA title.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul continues to show her hilarious personality, and a handful of other players weighed in on important topics. Let’s get to it, shall we?
Megha Ganne on women’s golf
U.S Women’s Amateur champion and FM Championship sponsor’s exemption Megha Ganne was asked what it means to her to know that so many young girls are taking up golf nowadays, and her answer hit the nail on the head.
“I think golf has been so underrated for so long, especially women’s golf, and girls playing in middle school, high school, it opens a lot of doors for you later on no matter the level that you pursue it at. So to see it become more of an avenue for those young girls to let this game take them wherever it takes them is really cool.”
Here’s what Ganne had to say when asked what advice she’d give to young girls just getting started in the game:
“Make golf whatever you want it to be. If you want to play at high level, go pursue that. If you don’t, if you want it to be a way for you to put yourself out there socially to meet different people that you wouldn’t have known otherwise, do that. If you want to go play different courses and travel to different spots, do that. Golf is so cool because you can use it to do whatever you want. There are so many career paths that I’ve seen college golfers go to even after they’re done playing, whether it’s playing or broadcasting or working in media.”
Very few of us will ever be professional golfers, but playing and knowing golf can take women very far. I met a junior golfer who was working as a junior golf reporter at the FM Championship this week, and she said her goal is to either play professional golf or cover professional golf for a living. As Ganne said, you truly can use golf to “do whatever you want.”
Massachusetts native and FM ambassador Megan Khang was asked about the player experience at the FM Championship earlier this week. Here’s what she had to say:
“You know, back when FM was in the works of making this event happen, they kind of asked me a few questions of what makes a tournament stand out to the players. I gave them a pretty short list. I thought that — I said it was be great if they could maybe check a couple of these boxes off whether it’s accommodation, a discount on accommodation, car rentals, help transportation-wise, flights.
“They went above and beyond. They took everything I gave them and said, Done; we’ll do it all. I was pretty thrown off by that because they wanted — again, they want this tournament to be a fixture in the schedule where the girls don’t want to miss it, and I think they’re doing a fantastic job.
“They’ve added on a welcome dinner at the hotel for the girls for those playing late tee times Thursday or Friday. Last year was one dinner, and this year it’s two nights of dinner. I went to the dinner last year and they shelled out quite a menu. I think mini lobster rolls, some steaks, an awesome dessert. So it goes from them not only giving a discount to hotels, but they’re absolutely giving complimentary hotel rooms. I was told they’re giving a $250 credit for laundry as well. The top 30 girls get to ride in some pretty nice BMWs this week.
“Everything they’re doing from just the quote/unquote little things to making the purse as big as it is in the second year. They raised the purse the first year without even seeing us play. It’s a true honor to be an FM ambassador, and makes me so happy to be a part of their team.”
LPGA Commissioner Craig Kessler and other players in the field echoed Khang’s statements throughout the week. The FM Championship goes above and beyond for its players, which doesn’t go unnoticed. Each and every thing they do makes a big difference for the women in the field and leaves them wanting to return year after year.
Jeeno Thitikul on thinking she’s not that good at golf
There’s no golfer whose press conferences I enjoy sitting in on more than World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul’s. The 22-year-old doesn’t take herself too seriously (outside the ropes, anyway) and always offers a fun perspective on her game when she comes in to chat with the media. This week at the FM Championship was no exception.
Here’s what Thitikul had to say about being World No. 1, and if she feels any different with that title.
“I think I’m the same person. It just number-wise, the golf, the ranking, the stats, they just build it up, but I think I just said to the media guy that walk up with me today, like I don’t think I’m good. I don’t think I’m that good. He’s just like, what are you just saying? … I’m just surprised by everything, surviving here on LPGA. I’m just like, it’s so many players that are talented and then I just, I swear that when I was young I just thought about winning a tournament, just one tournament on the LPGA would be enough for me. But to hear where I am now, I don’t know how I did it.”
If the World No. 1 thinks she’s not that good at golf, there’s very little hope for the rest of us. And if you somehow haven’t seen some of Thitikul’s other hilarious press-conference moments from the past year, check out this clip.
