Even before she had teed off on her professional debut at the Liberty National, a course that overlooks the Manhattan skyline and Statue of Liberty, Rose Zhang was a golf sensation.
The American, who turned 20 last month, had earned virtually every women’s amateur golf accomplishment. She was No. 1 in the world amateur golf ranking for a record 141 consecutive weeks, winning every big event, including back-to-back NCAA collegiate titles, the US Women’s Amateur, the US Girls’ Junior and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Indeed, in her two seasons at Stanford University, Zhang won 12 times in 20 starts, surpassing, among others, Tiger Woods for the most victories in the school’s history.
Within golf circles, she was regarded as a generational talent set to dominate women’s golf — and all this was before her first round in the often sobering world of professional sport.
Zhang’s professional debut at the Mizuho Americas Open last week drew a considerable crowd. Women’s golf had not seen this level of anticipation since Michelle Wie West turned pro at age 15 equipped with blue-chip sponsors like Nike and Sony.
Zhang didn’t dominate in her first round as a pro but showed enough, making five birdies and three bogeys on a day her putter didn’t help her. And then, as she has done so often in the amateur ranks, she began to find the best way around the course. By the time she had finished, she had lived up to all the pre-tournament hype.
Zhang became the first player in 72 years to win on the LPGA Tour in her pro debut. The last female player to win as a pro in her debut was Beverly Hanson (Eastern Open, 1951).
The first words from the prodigy as she capped off one of the more remarkable 13-day stretches in golf were telling. “What is happening?” she said, with a humility that contrasted with the calculated competitor on the course. Hype rules the day in a society built around social media, and Zhang is one of the rare athletes who delivered. She won her second straight NCAA title and then 13 days later was awash in wonder when she aced her professional debut.
At peace with herself
Zhang walked, talked and played like it was any other tournament. She is so comfortable with who she is that expectations are not part of the equation. “I honestly didn’t even expect to make the cut,” she said, sitting next to a trophy stuffed with a bouquet of roses. “And the reason why I say this is because I think about playing the golf course. I think about trying to shoot the best score that I can. The expectation for me winning did not even cross my mind.
“I was just playing my game. I was having a good time out there,” she said. “This is the game that I love, and I’m so thankful to be a professional doing it now.”
She became an LPGA Tour member with the win, which is important because otherwise she could not be considered for September’s Solheim Cup, the biennial golf tournament contested by teams representing Europe and the United States. Now she might as well be pencilled in for the American team. She earned $412,500, although money is not motivation and doesn’t compare to endorsements with the likes of Callaway, Adidas, Delta, Rolex, Beats by Dre.
Besides, Zhang has other pressing issues. She made an appearance on NBC’s ‘Today’ show on Monday, then it was back to Stanford to move out of her dorm and get through finals. She will be a full-time player but still intends to finish a communications degree, just as Wie West eventually did. “I have no idea what I’m going to do with that,” Zhang said with a laugh, mentioning an essay that was due for one class, another project for computer science that sounded as though it gives her more anxiety than a downhill putt with a foot of break.
A significant part of Zhang’s appeal is that her story resonates with college kids as much as it does with golf’s biggest names. So impressive was her performance at the Mizuho Americas Open — a statement win that announced to the world that the talent she displayed in college will transition to the professional level — that it drew the attention of fellow Stanford product and 15-time Major champion Woods. “Incredible few weeks for Rose Zhang, defends her NCAA title and then wins in her Pro debut. Go card!” he tweeted.
Beating the odds
It’s important to place in context the difficulty level she faced in New Jersey. She was up against a field that featured seven of the world’s top 10, had to sleep on the 54-hole lead — never easy, even for tested veterans — and persevered on a tough Sunday without a birdie before winning the tournament in a sudden-death playoff.
So it was no surprise that there were a few tears, especially during Zhang’s embrace with Wie West, the tournament host who can relate to a high level of hype. Wie West thought outside the box, playing PGA Tour events when she was still in the eighth grade, dreaming of playing in men’s Majors. The difference was the outcome. It took Wie West four years to win on the LPGA Tour, five more to capture her lone Major in the US Women’s Open.
Wie West played with Zhang at the Women’s Open last year and has become something of a mentor to her. “It looks easy for her when she plays,” Wie West said.
The victory vaulted Zhang 420 spots to No. 62 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, and she said fans will see more of her on the tour in 2023. She has an invitation to the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol. Also on the horizon in July is Pebble Beach, where the US Women’s Open is being held for the first time. It already was the most anticipated event on the LPGA schedule this year because of the location. Now it has even greater appeal.
“I’m just in a place where I want to improve myself,” Zhang said after her historic win. “I want to continue trying to carve a path for young kids to just follow your dreams. I’m so thankful that the young kids enjoy me, enjoy my golf. I’ll continue to fight. I’ll continue to work hard. So we’ll be seeing what I do in the future. As of now, I’m just soaking it all in.”
