Rose Zhang

Zhang was born in Arcadia, California, and lives in Irvine, California. She began golfing at the age of 9 when a family friend dropped off golf clubs for her dad. Zhang picked up all of her dad's hobbies, especially tennis. This one, however, was new to her. She had to try. Zhang snatched a club, took a stance, swung, and missed. Then she whiffed it again. On the faithful third try, she hit it flush, this time sending the ball nearly out of the yard. With that, her dad thought it best for his girl to get some lessons. A few months later, she won her first event.
Zhang has been attending Pacific Academy and is committed to Stanford in the fall of 2021. She made headlines when she won the PGA Girls Junior in 2017. Zhang was remarkable for 72 holes, making an eagle, 22 birdies, and just four bogeys to win by six over Yealimi Noh. She was off and running with that victory at just 14 years old. Two weeks later, Zhang won the Junior America's Cup, beating Brianna Navarrosa by five shots.
2018 Notes: Zhang won the ANA Junior Inspiration. Played on the same course as the ANA Inspiration, and a week before the LPGA event, Zhang birdied the final hole to beat Ashley Menne by a shot. With the win, she had the honor of jumping into Poppie's Pond with Patty Sheehan. Another perk of winning this event was Zhang got to stick around for the next week and play in the ANA Inspiration. For the 14-year-old, she got to play in her first LPGA start and shot 72-70 to make the cut and then 77-70 to finish T-60th. In August, Zhang won again at the Swinging Skirts AJGA Invitational, beating Irene Kim by two shots. With that victory, it provided another perk. She got to play in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship and finished T-78th. She had her moments of not winning. In defense of her PGA Girls Junior, she finished 2nd to Yealimi Noh, who won by 4 shots.
Zhang was so good that she played first in the USGA Women's Amateur before playing in the USGA Girls Junior. In the 2018 Women's Amateur, at just 15, she shot 73-72 but didn't make it into the matchplay because she lost a nine-women playoff for one spot. Later in the year, Zhang won the PING Invitational by a shot over Erica Shepherd.
2019 Notes: She began her year in a title defense at the ANA Junior Inspiration, but this time, she finished 3rd, a shot back of the playoff, which Cindy Kou won. She was one of the youngest competitors in the inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur and finished T-17th. Zhang was runner-up in the Thunderbird International Junior. After that, she qualified to play in the U.S. Women's Open, where she made the cut and finished T-55th. Zhang won the Toyota Junior World Cup held in Japan three weeks later. She was tied with Cory Lopez and Cassie Porter and beat them in a playoff. She got to play in the USGA Girls Junior and made it to the Quarterfinals, losing to another future star, Yuka Saso (won the '21 Women's Open) 2 up. Zhang stuck around and caddied for her friend and future Stanford teammate Angelina Ye, who won the next two matches to win the U.S. Girls Junior. It was off to Peru to play for America in the Pan-American Games. Zhang was on the winning U.S. mixed-gender team and placed 8th in the individual competition. She returned to San Francisco to defend her Swinging Skirts AJGA Invitational and defeated Ho Yu An by three shots. That earned her another trip to Taiwan to play in the Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA, where Zhang finished T-65th. She ended her year in Florida and won the Rolex Tournament of Champions by 11 shots over Sadie Englemann. The American Junior Golf Association named her the 2019 Girls Rolex Junior Player of the Year.
2020 Notes: Because of COVID-19, she only played in seven events. The first was in April, when the ANNIKA Invitational USA was presented by Rolex. She finished T-3rd, five shots back of winner Benedetta Moresco. She didn't play another event for four months. At 17, she played in the U.S. Women's Amateur at Woodmont Country Club, just outside Washington D.C. She comfortably made it into match play and beat Anna Morgan, Maria Bohorquez, Rachel Heck, Kaleigh Telfer, and Alyaa Abdulghany, making it into the finals against another accomplished player Gabriela Ruffels. It was a long haul for Zhang, who considered withdrawing due to a sore wrist, but with daily treatments of ice packs and medical tape, was able to go the distance. Ruffels was the defending champion, and they both were good in the round as they won seven holes and found themselves tied after 36 holes. On the first playoff hole, Zhang got up and down from 95 yards to make par after a poor tee shot. When Ruffels missed her birdie putt, they went to the 38th hole. The match ended when Ruffels missed a three-foot par putt which horseshoes out of the hole. So Zhang added another trophy to the mantel place at home. She won the Rolex Girls Junior Championship two weeks later by two shots over Lella Raines and Bohyun Park. She then returned to Mission Hills to play in the ANA Inspiration for the third time. Zhang played solidly to finish T-11th and gained more valuable information on playing on the LPGA Tour. With this finish, she rose to number 1 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and won the Mark McCormack Medal as the leading player on the World Amateur Women's Golf Ranking after the women's amateur season. Zhang ended the year with wins in the Junior World Cup, The PING Invitational, and the AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions. At the end of the year, she returned to the U.S. Women's Open for a 2nd time and missed the cut.
2021 Notes: She started her year playing the Carlisle Arizona Women's Golf Classic on the Symetra Tour. She almost won her first professional title, but Ruixin Liu wouldn't let it happen. Liu, the 2018 Symetra Tour player of the year, found herself tied with Zhang after regulation and made a birdie on the 2nd playoff hole to deny Zhang the win. At the Augusta National Women's Amateur Championship, Zhang shot 71-72 in the first two rounds and was the co-leader going into the final round at Augusta National. But she stumbled, making a triple bogey on the par 5, 13th hole. Zhang shot 75 and finished T-3rd, a shot back of the playoff that Tsubasa Kajitani won. She was off to Hawaii to play in the LOTTE Championship and finished T-33rd. It was back on the Symetra Tour, and she was T-22nd at the Copper Rock Championship. She missed the cut in her third U.S. Women's Open in San Francisco. The next event was the USGA Girls' Junior. Because of COVID-19, the event was canceled in 2020, and for Zhang, this was her last chance to claim the title. She didn't disappoint. With rounds of 69-62, she was the medalist by six shots. She continued her domination into match play. In the round of 64, she beat Lauryn Nguyen 6 & 4. In the round of 32, she beat Rianne Mikhaela Malixi 4 & 3. In the round of 16, she beat Amari Avery 4 & 2, and in the quarterfinals, she beat Yana Wilson 5 & 4. She got her first real test in her semifinal match against Mexico's Paula Miranda, who, after 10 holes, led 2 up. Zhang won the 11th, 12, and 13th holes to take a 1-up lead, but Miranda made a birdie at 17 to square the match before both made pars at 18 to send the match into overtime. When Miranda made a bogey on the 2nd extra hole, Zhang went into the final match against Bailey Davis. The 36-hole match was close for 11 holes, but Zhang won four of the next seven holes to finish the first 18 holes 4 up. After Davis birdied the 1st hole of the 2nd 18, the rest of the way was anti-climatic. Davis would win only one more hole, but by then, Zhang was 6 up, and she claimed the title on the 32nd hole 6 & 4. The win made Zhang the 8th player in USGA history to win both the U.S. Girl's Junior and the U.S. Women's Amateur. Zhang was off to France to play in the Amundi Evian Championship, where she finished T-58th. It was off to Rye, New York, to defend her U.S. Women's Amateur title. It was a rough week for the 18-year-old. She was 2 over in stroke play and comfortably made it into Match Play. But things didn't go well in her round of 64 match with Elle Nachmann. Zhang rang up a 2-up lead after 12 holes but then lost 3 of the last 6 holes, and even though Zhang made a birdie on the 18th hole, so did Nachmann. She was named to the 2021 U.S. Curtis Cup team and had a 4-0-1 record in the American victory. Zhang won the Mark McCormack Medal as the leading player on the
World Amateur Women's Golf Ranking at the conclusion of the women's amateur season. It was the second straight year she had won the award. She was a triple crown winner at Spirit International, winning the women's individual portion of the competition by three strokes over Isabella Fierro and helping the U.S. team to the women's championship (with Stanford teammate Rachel Heck) and the overall combined championship.
2022 Notes: She was a freshman at Stanford in the spring after winning her first three collegiate starts in the fall semester at the Molly Collegiate Invitational, the Windy City Collegiate Classic, and the Stanford Intercollegiate. She was the first Stanford player, male or female, to win her first three collegiate starts. Her winning streak ended with a T-4th at the Lamkin Invitational in February, and after that, she had consecutive runner-up finishes at the Gunrock Invitational and the Juli Inkster Meadow Club Collegiate. She was T-10th at the Ping/ASU Invitational, extending her streak of top-10 finishes to start her college career to seven events. She was T-12th at the Augusta National Women's Amateur Championship. She won the NCAA D1 Women's Championship by three shots. On her 19th birthday, she was presented with the Annika Award for best female college golfer of the year. She then clinched Stanford's second NCAA team title by winning the final match, 3 and 1. In June 2022, Adidas announced its first name, image, and likeness deal with Zhang, making her the company's first student-athlete. The multi-year deal was announced on the morning of Zhang entering the U.S. Women's Open. Played in the U.S. Women's Open and finished T-40th. She was a U.S. Curtis Cup team member in 2022 and had a 2-1-1 record; she beat Louise Duncan in her singles match 7 & 5. She was T-28th in the AIG Women's Open and won the Smyth Salver as the low amateur. Zhang won the Mark McCormack Medal as the leading player on the World Amateur Women's Golf Ranking at the conclusion of the women's amateur season. It was the third straight year she won the award, joining Leona Maguire and Lydia Ko as three-time winners. She was co-medalist in the individual portion of the World Amateur Team Championship and helped the U.S. (with Rachel Kuehn of Wake Forest and her Stanford teammate Rachel Heck) finish 2nd and win the Silver Medal.
2023 Notes: She was a sophomore on the Stanford women's golf team and won eight times during the season, including the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship for the second straight year. She then won the Augusta National Women's Amateur in a playoff over Jenny Bae. Zhang led by five shots after two rounds but then shot 76 in the final round to fall into a playoff, which she won with a par on the second extra hole. She ended her college career on a high note with three more wins in consecutive weeks at the Pac-12 Championship, the NCAA Pullman Regional, and the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship, giving her 12 wins in her college career, most by a male or female in school history. Zhang turned pro less than two weeks after the NCAA Championship and won her pro debut at the Mizuho Americas Open. Zhang was the 54-hole leader but shot 74 Sunday to fall into a tie with Jennifer Kupcho after 72 holes. She won with a par on the second playoff hole. She is the first player to win an LPGA event in her first start as a professional since Beverly Hanson won the 1951 Eastern Open in the second year of the LPGA. Zhang was awarded LPGA membership after the victory. She was T-8th in the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, three back of winner Ruoning Yin, and followed that by finishing T-9th in the U.S. Women's Open and the Amundi Evian Championship. She was a U.S. Solheim Cup team member and was 0-2-1 in the matches. After that finished T-3rd at the Maybank Championship, finishing two shots back of the Celine Boutier/Atthaya Thitikul playoff. Ended the season with a T-13th finish at the CME Group Tour Championship. For the year, she played in 14 LPGA Tour events, making 12 cuts with five top-ten finishes. She was 26th on the CME Points list and 21st on the money list, with earnings of $1,389,794.
2024 Notes: She started the year by finishing T-7th at the Hilton Tournament of Champions. After that, she went back to Stanford and took a full load of classes in the spring semester. She was T-5th in the T-Mobile Match Play, losing in the quarterfinals to Sei Young Kim, 6 and 5. At the Cognizant Founders Cup, she birdied four of her last five holes to win her second LPGA event by two shots over Madelene Sagstrom. A week later, she withdrew from the Mizuho Americas Open in her title defense during the first round due to an illness. Was T-6th at the CPKC Women's Open, six shots back of the winner Lauren Coughlin. She played at the Paris Olympics as a member of the U.S. women's golf team. She finished two shots back of Esther Henseleit and the bronze medal, and five shots back of Gold Medal winner Lydia Ko.