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Rose Zhang, the 18-year-old wunderkind from Irvine, California, won the Mark McCormack Medal as the top-ranked female amateur in the world.
It’s the second consecutive year that Zhang has earned the distinction, joining Lydia Ko (2011-13) and Leona Maguire (2015-17) as multiple recipients of the McCormack Medal, which has been presented to women since 2011. Zhang has maintained her position at No. 1 by winning this year’s U.S. Girls’ Junior in July, becoming the eighth player to win both that title and the U.S. Women’s Amateur. Among her other accomplishments, she also made the cut in this summer’s Amundi Evian Championship, finished third in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and was runner-up at the Symetra Tour’s Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic.
Zhang has spent 47 consecutive weeks as the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, and is only just getting ready to start her college career this fall at Stanford.
“To receive any award with the USGA and the R&A’s names on it is incredible, so to have it happen a second time is both rewarding and humbling,” Zhang said. “The work I’ve put into my game over the past few years has truly been paying off, and I am so grateful to all who have supported me along the way. I look forward to continuing to reach new heights as I take my game to the collegiate level.”
For Zhang, who will play in the AIG Women’s Open this week and in the Curtis Cup Match in Wales later this month, this marks the final stages of one of the greatest junior careers on record. She was a two-time AJGA Player of the Year and a two-time Rolex Tournament of Champions winner.
“On behalf of our entire organization, I’d like to congratulate Rose on this incredible achievement,” said John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s senior managing director for championships. “Her play over the last two years has put her in a league of her own, and she has shown she is not only a champion on the course, but off it as well. We cannot wait to continue to watch her career grow for years to come.”
Other winners of the McCormack Medal on the women’s side include Andrea Lee (2019), Jennifer Kupcho (2018) and Minjee Lee (2014).
Sean Fairholm