Rose Zhang had a glittering amateur career before announcing she was turning pro almost immediately after her 20th birthday. With the prospect of plenty more success ahead of her, here are 21 things you may not have known about the gifted American.
1. Rose Zhang was born in Arcadia, California, on 24 May 2003.
2. She has one sibling, brother Bill, who was born in 1993.
3. Zhang began playing golf aged nine after a family friend brought over some clubs for her dad, Haibin. Curious, she picked up one of the clubs and took some swings in her backyard. She hit the ball flush on her third attempt. At that point, her dad arranged lessons for her.
4. Her swing is one of her biggest attributes, and she has worked with swing coach George Pinnell since the age of around 11.
5. She represented the USA at the 2019 Junior Solheim Cup.
6. Zhang was named Girls Rolex Junior Player of the Year the same year. The year after, she was handed the honour again.
7. Zhang competed in the 2019 US Women’s Open, aged 16. She finished tied for 40th.
8. Like Michelle Wie-West and Tiger Woods before her, she studies at Stanford University.
9. Stanford head coach Anne Walker once described her as “the Mozart of golf, the Van Gogh of golf.”
10. She broke Wie-West’s scoring record to finish as Low Amateur at the 2020 ANA Inspiration (now The Chevron Championship).
11. She won Mark H McCormack Medals for top world amateur golfer three times in succession between 2020 and 2022.
12. Zhang represented Team USA in the 2021 and 2022 Curtis Cup.
13. Zhang particularly admires Lydia Ko and says: "She’s a genuine, super-nice person and has no fakeness to her."
14. She set the Pebble Beach women’s course record with nine-under in the second round of the 2022 Carmel Cup.
15. In 2022, she became the first student athlete to sign deals with Callaway Golf and Adidas.
16. In May 2023, Zhang won the NCAA Division I Women’s Championship, surpassing the number of wins Tiger Woods achieved as a Stanford University golfer, with 12.
17. At the same time, she became the first player to win two NCAA individual titles.
18. Zhang set the record for consecutive weeks at the top of the World Amateur Golf Ranking in April 2023, surpassing Leona Maguire’s 135 weeks. By the time she ended her amateur career, it had stretched to 141 weeks.
19. She is the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion.
20. Zhang cites her dad as one of her greatest influences, and he has also caddied for her extensively, including in her win at Augusta National.
21. Zhang already has thoughts on her post-playing days and told AmateurGolf.com: “Once I’m done playing, I want to be involved in a role that impacts communities and people.”
