With this being U.S. Open week and the tremors still being felt over the PGA Tour merging with the Saudi-based Public Investment Fund and LIV Golf, this might seem like odd timing.
But since her bandwagon is filling up, there’s no time like the present to contemplate what the future of women’s golf could become with a potential American superstar like we haven’t seen in a long time finally bursting on the scene.
Rose Zhang, by every meaningful measuring stick, is a legitimate game-changing presence.
She has game like nothing golf has seen in a U.S. teenaged phenom since a couple other Stanford University products, Tiger Woods and Michelle Wie West, took hype to another level.
Tiger more than lived up to his advance billing. Wie West, five LPGA wins and a U.S. Open title aside, never did.
What Zhang did last week at the Mizuho Americas Open — winning in her pro debut just after her 20th birthday, hanging on to a 54-hole lead despite not making one birdie in the final round — was pretty mind-boggling.
Not only had the feat not been done since Beverly Hanson in 1951, but Zhang beat a field that featured seven of the world’s top-10 players, ultimately beating previous major champion Jennifer Kupcho in a sudden-death playoff.
“What is happening? I just can’t believe it,” Zhang said immediately after her tap-in putt to secure the victory.
A short while later, Zhang admitted she didn’t even expect to make the cut and that “the expectation for me winning did not even cross my mind.”
Well, she can forget about that mindset from this point forward because expectations for this California kid are sure to soar at a rate that, if not approaching Tiger-like intensity, may be unprecedented for women’s golf.
Zhang is whole package
As elevated as the Wie West hype was in her early teenage years, she needed four years to win her first LPGA event and another five years to win the Women’s U.S. Open at age 24. She only won one tournament over the rest of her injury-riddled career.
It wouldn’t be hyperbole to think Zhang could match Wie’s five total wins by Thanksgiving, or at least by this time next year.
Keep in mind, this young woman broke Tiger’s record at Stanford by winning 12 tournaments in 20 events. She captured the U.S. Amateur at age 17, the U.S. Girls Junior at 18, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at 19, as well as becoming the first female to win back-to-back NCAA titles. Tiger’s first pro result: a tie for 60th at the 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open.
Her coach at Stanford, Anne Walker, minced no words about Zhang’s accomplishments, saying: “She’s the absolute GOAT. She is the best amateur of all time.”
Of women’s golf, no doubt. Hopefully, Walker wasn’t including Bobby Jones in that all-time context.
But anyone eyeballing the weekend portion of the Mizuho’s Americas Open could see they were watching history.
Even when Zhang let multiple chasers back into the tourney after nursing a four-shot lead, there was no sign of panic, even after she bogeyed the last hole of regulation to force the playoff with Kupcho.
Zhang essentially won on the second playoff hole by sticking a 4-hybrid shot within 10 feet of a back pin at No. 18, then two-putting for the victory.
“It was a fabulous shot,” Tom Abbott, one of the hole announcers for NBC/Golf Channel at the Mizuho event, told the Times-Union. “I thought, ‘Wow, this is what the LPGA needs, that when the time comes, someone to provide the shot of a champion.’ She attacked the flag and her distance control was spot on.
“I think everybody wants to compare her to Tiger, who won three [U.S.] Amateurs and three Juniors. She’s still done things Tiger didn’t do. I think the hype around her is justified. The fact she handled the hype as well as she did, then performed in a way that is very much in control of her game and her emotions is a great sign.”
Madison Avenue loves her
Beyond her stupendous game, Zhang is perfect for Madison Avenue. She’s got a Tiger-like golf resume with a better disposition, far more personable and genuine than Woods ever thought of being 25 years ago or now.
She’s already got sponsors Rolex, Callaway, Delta and Beats by Dre in the fold. A year ago, Adidas awarded her its first NIL contract to a college athlete.
All of this is happening because Zhang has the right combination of a well-rounded game and marketing appeal.
It’s far-fetched to think Zhang could win eight LPGA tournaments as a rookie like California native Nancy Lopez did in 1978, especially since the influx of South Korean golfers and other Asian prodigies makes winning far more difficult for American women players than in Lopez’s time.
But for someone who just turned 20 just three weeks ago, Zhang is the first U.S. female golfer to come along since Wie that could intrigue a male audience. At her first pro victory, 20-something males went bare-chested at the tournament and those Zhang fans called themselves the “Rosebuds.”
“That’s what the LPGA needs, a star that gets attention and people are inquisitive about,” said Abbott. “To bring in a mainstream crowd, you need that one big star.”
With Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty serving as a backdrop for Zhang’s first pro win, it’ll be interesting to see what the crowds will be like across the Hudson River next week in the Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol.
You can expect there’ll be a more significant national media presence at the women’s second major of 2023, all because people want to see whether Zhang can continue to perform under an intensifying spotlight.
“[The size of] a lot of LPGA crowds depends on where you are,” said Abbott, who has been covering the ladies Tour since 2010. “It’s traditionally been a struggle to get crowds in big cities. It was important to see a good-size crowd watching, and it was because of Rose.”
The All-American girl
There’s evidence building that U.S. women are becoming a slightly bigger presence on LPGA leaderboards in recent years. There are 10 Americans in the world’s top 50, with Zhang close to getting there.
Six different Americans captured tournaments in 2021 and ‘22, and before Zhang’s victory, 25-year-old Lilia Vu already won twice this year, including at the Chevron Championship, the first women’s major of the year, in April.
Clearly, the most accomplished American player is world No. 2 Nelly Korda, 24, who withdrew from Mizuho with a back injury. She’s an eight-time LPGA winner, but Zhang zoomed up to No. 61 with her spectacular debut and will now command the most attention as long as she keeps performing at a high level.
Zhang is the fresh-faced, All-American girl, who went right back to Stanford to complete her schoolwork after her victory and is determined to get a communications degree despite needing two more years.
People and sponsors are taken in by Zhang’s humility, an attraction that will add to her television appeal if she can keep winning or at least contend at majors.
The LPGA needs an American star with staying power. Some like Korda, Lexi Thompson and Wie West showed promise at a young age. Thompson became the youngest LPGA Tour winner at 16 and has won 11 times, yet none in the last four years. Korda has a top ranking but only one win in the last 19 months.
Because of her track record as an amateur, rising to No. 1 in the world, the belief is Zhang has a chance to reach greater heights.
“What you have in Rose is the potential of someone to be around for a long time and be a champion,” said Abbott. “To go out there with all the pressure and media hype she was given, win in that fashion against a player [Kupcho] that won three times last year, that was impressive. To me, she’s the real deal.
“The question going forward is whether that’s going to manifest itself and draw people in to watch women’s golf. The LPGA needs an American star people can get behind. Only time will tell if Rose can hold that crowd. If she can, it’ll be huge for the Tour.”
Who knows, maybe golf’s next Tiger Woods will be a woman.
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