She kept the historic milestones coming. One week after making her case for the best collegiate woman golfer in history by being the first to win back-to-back NCAA individual championships, Rose Zhang became the first player since Beverly Hanson in 1951 to win on the LPGA Tour in her first start as a professional.
She did it in a playoff with Jennifer Kupcho at the Mizuho Americas Open, a new event played at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey, with the Manhattan skyline visible at almost every turn.
Mizuho is an investment banking firm familiar to only a minuscule number of golf fans before last week. But the firm made a number of stupendous public-relations moves to get its brand out. The first was making Michelle Wie West the tournament host. Though Wie West might not garner the same attention she once did from avid golfers, she remains a recognizable name to drive-by observers of the LPGA.
The second stellar move was adding a junior-golf component. The sponsor invited 24 AJGA girls to compete in a separate modified Stableford event while playing with the pros. Yana Wilson, the U.S. Girls’ Junior champion, won that event over former bucket-hat fashionista Anna Davis, the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion.
Finally, on the great-decision front, Wie and tournament organizers had the good sense to give Zhang a sponsor exemption, ensuring that Mizuho would be her first LPGA Tour start as a pro.
Zhang made her own impressive off-course moves as well. Her first decision as a pro was staffing. For an agent, she went with Kevin Hopkins, a former IMG star who is now a vice president at Excel Sports Management. Then she hired veteran caddie Jason Gilroyed, who has spent years on the LPGA Tour with major champions such as Anna Nordqvist and Cristie Kerr. For the past five seasons, he has been on the bag of Minjee Lee as she won two majors and got as high as No. 3 in the world.
Gilroyed visited Zhang at Stanford and followed her around Pebble Beach where Zhang, who already holds the women’s course record at the classic course, shot 4-under par in the early-morning cold. After that, the veteran caddie made what would prove to be one of the more prescient predictions.
“If I had to describe her game, it would be more of a Jin Young (Ko),” Gilroyed said. “You know it’s going to be about precision.”
“I just can't believe it. It was just last week when I won NCAAs with my teammates, and to turn pro and come out here, it's just been amazing.”
Rose Zhang
That style was on full display throughout the week at Liberty National, but especially in the final round when Zhang didn’t have her best stuff. With the Statue of Liberty looming as a backdrop, Zhang made par after grinding par. Miss a green, and she got it up and down. Put herself on the wrong side, and she hit a great putt. With so much on the line – immediate LPGA membership, eligibility for the Solheim Cup, and, most of all, more history – Zhang remained as calm and consistent as a 12-time winner. Not since Lydia Ko shocked everyone with her maturity and skills as a teenager has a player brought in so many eyeballs.
At 20, Zhang is closer in age to the AJGA players than her closest LPGA Tour competitors. In fact, after her win, instead of the customary water shower from her professional peers, the AJGA girls ran onto the 18th green with bouquets of red roses.
Everything is likely to be different with Zhang. Throughout the week, she did media, including what insiders call a “car wash,” where she hit a slew of outlets in New York before the tournament began. Then she did post-round interviews every competition day during which she was a star from the jump: smart, funny, humble, charismatic, honest, and as good of a communicator as she is a player.
And if you had any doubt, she is an amazing player.
The shot that encapsulated what we can expect from her in the future came at the par-4 12th on Sunday. Zhang tugged her tee shot into a terrible downhill lie in the left rough. She had her right foot higher than her left and a stand of trees between her ball and the flagstick. With a one-shot lead and no hint of frustration, Zhang hit a 9-iron over the trees that nestled inside 15 feet from the hole. It was the closest approach in the final three groups.
She missed that birdie putt, as she did every other birdie effort on Sunday. Zhang made a wealth of crucial 10- to 12-footers for par, including critical ones on 15 and 17. But when she had a 10-footer on the 72nd hole that would have won it in regulation, she missed.
In the playoff on the 18th hole, which should have favored Kupcho who is substantially longer and more experienced than Zhang, the 20-year-old Californian made the same 10-footer for par that she’d missed in regulation. About 20 minutes later, she tapped in for another par to win after Kupcho three-putted 18 for bogey.
“I just can't believe it,” Zhang said immediately afterward. “It was just last week when I won NCAAs with my teammates, and to turn pro and come out here, it's just been amazing.
“I've enjoyed the journey. I had so many cheers around me. All my friends and family. Just so thankful. I really got a bit of everything. Got a taste of pressure, got a taste of the wind, and I tried to stay composed as always.”
When asked what the future holds, she showed a level of kindness and humility that cannot be faked.
“I want to continue trying to carve a path for young kids to just follow your dreams,” Zhang said. “I'm so thankful that the young kids enjoy me, enjoy my golf, and I'm just so thankful for the support.
“So, I will continue to do what I'm doing. I’ll continue to fight. I’ll continue to work hard. Hopefully everyone can follow along.”
Of that last part, there will be no doubt.
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Top: Rose Zhang is on a historic walk.
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