Matt Vautour: Good on the course, great off it - Megan Khang shined as LPGA's Boston ambassador

NORTON — As she and Lexi Thompson walked toward the fairway off the first tee, Megan Khang turned to her playing partner and marveled at the moment.

“That might have been the first time I heard roars louder for myself than her,” Khang said about her usually higher-profile friend.

But neither Thompson nor anybody else had bigger crowds or louder roars at TPC Boston in Norton than Khang this week.

The event was officially the FM Championship, but it could have been subtitled “The Megan Khang Invitational.” The affable 26-year-old from Rockland has been the face of this tournament before anyone even swung a club. It’s been a role she handled deftly this week.

She promoted women’s golf to Massachusetts and promoted Massachusetts to the women’s golfers. Everybody came out ahead.

Khang was good on the course shooting a -3 under the four-day event. But she was terrific off of it. Her relatability — talking about her love of Tom Brady Patriots and local restaurants — has connected with fans and sponsors. She is a local and comes off like a local, just one who happens to be really good at golf.

She’s gone above and beyond for the event. In late July, she caught a red-eye flight from Calgary on a Sunday to be at the MGM Music Hall to promote the FM Championship at media day in Boston on the Monday.

This week, after playing at the British Open last week at St. Andrews, Khang’s enthusiasm was unjetlagged as she did every interview and signed every autograph. She even threw out the first pitch at Fenway Park on Tuesday.

“Having that opportunity to showcase and bring attention to the women’s game, I’m pretty sure some of those people in the stands might not have known there was a women’s golf tournament coming to the area,” said Khang, who regretted forgetting a Sharpie to have Red Sox reliever Liam Hendriks sign it. She hoped to play a round with him to remedy that.

“Have to meet up again sometime if he plays golf and have him sign it,” she said.

Khang, like the tournament, is sponsored by FM and was a gifted shmoozer with their executives and clients as well.

“Golf is great and all, but I think I would like to take some credit in my personality and being able to form these relationships and have an enjoyable time out there,” she said. I’ve been very fortunate enough to get sponsors without necessarily looking.”

FM was glad to have her for its inaugural event. With LPGA superstars Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko sitting out after last week’s major in Scotland, the Boston-area crowd did what Boston crowds do — rallied around the home team, or in this case local player.

Her galleries were larger and more animated than the No. 21-ranked player usually gets and she played well in front of them.

“She’s been amazing. She’s a proud FM ambassador,” LPGA Tournament director Patrick Healy said. “She had a busy week and honestly showed up to everything with a massive smile on her face was incredibly engaging. She crushed it.”

That mutual affection with New England is a big reason she has no plans to move to Florida or anywhere else with a year-round golf climate.

“I just bought a place in Medford, so I’m staying here for a while,” she said. “I just love it up here. I love having the winter season. I still love to snowboard and being around family and friends. … I love being at home, and Massachusetts will always be home.”

With that in mind, she planned on hitting Boston’s North End for Italian food with a few friends on Sunday night followed by a little downtime before preparing for the Solheim Cup on Sept. 10 in Virginia.

But she was already thinking about coming back for the 2025 FM Championship.

“I already can’t wait until next year,” she said. “It’s been a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to see more girls coming up to Massachusetts and having a grand ol’ time with all of us out here.”

Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.