Rose Zhang knew this would be a weird year for her on the course after finishing up her Stanford degree in the spring. Transitioning back to being a full-time pro was going to have its bumps, but the former Stanford star faced it with one big goal in mind.
Make the Solheim Cup team.
In two previous Solheim Cup appearances, Zhang went 4-2-1 and looked to cement herself as part of the backbone of future teams along with Nelly Korda. But after stepping back from full-time competitive golf to finish her degree at Stanford, Zhang’s world-class game was rusty and she knew she needed to prove herself to coach Angela Stanford to make the 2026 team. Zhang struggled in her return to full-time LPGA play earlier this year. She missed the cut at the JM LA Eagle Championsho and the Chevron Championship. After a T9 at the Ford in March, Zhang posted just one top-12 finish in her next 10 starts. She made the cut at the four majors after the Chevron but didn’t finish better than T41. As the calendar turned to August, Zhang had one thought as she tried to prove she should be Stanford’s team that will compete in the Netherlands during the second week of September.
“Is my game worthy?” Zhang told Golf Channel on Monday after Stanford made her one of the final three captain’s picks. “I wanted my game to be worthy enough to make this team because I see how competitive and how incredible the American girls are and how much of a privilege it is to be on this team and I want to do my best to contribute to this team.”
While Zhang’s results might not have shown it, Stanford and the Team USA brain trust saw her game coming around. She gained stokes on approach in every event since April and finally started making putts en route to a T8 finish at the Portland Classic two weeks ago. Stanford said it was an “easy choice” to pick Zhang to be one of the final members of an American team that will look to become the first to win on European soil since 2015 because of her pedigree, demeanor and mentality.
Zhang was thrilled to have the weight of trying to make the team off her shoulders this week at the FM Championship at TPC Boston. But that question of whether or not her game, in its current form, is “worthy” of being on Stanford’s team remained. So Zhang arrived this week hoping to win her first title since 2024, but needing to show herself that she was ready to be the piece the Americans need in the Netherlands come September 11th.
Zhang opened with an even-par 72 but then closed with three solid under-par rounds, including a Sunday 68 to finish at 10 under and in a tie for fourth, four shots back of winner Ruoning Yin. It wasn’t a victorious week for 23-year-old but she got exactly what she needed out of it.
“This feels incredible,” Zhang said after Sunday’s final round. “I feel like it’s been a long time coming. I’ve been working a lot on my game with my team, and just personally I think it’s a great confidence booster, especially heading into Solheim. And, yeah, I’m just excited to keep working and keep improving, but I know that the game is there, which is nice to know.”
Zhang’s Sunday started off on the wrong foot when she made a sloppy bogey at the par-5 second. But she played her final 16 holes in 5 under, including birdies at 13, 15 and 17 to come home in 33 and post her first top-five finish of the season.
For Zhang, seeing her game show up in the Sunday cauldron answered the question that has hovered over her pursuit of a spot on Stanford’s roster.
“It’s just nice to know that I can play under pressure,” Zhang said. “I feel like it’s been a while since I gave myself an opportunity to be in the last couple groups, and so to have people watching and to be playing well, especially on top of that, I think it all brings really good energy, especially into the next two weeks.”
On Monday, when she picked Zhang as one of the final three members of her team, Stanford said she never doubted that Rose Zhang would find Rose Zhang this year.
“Rose has been successful on different levels. Everywhere she has played she has been a winner,” Stanford said. “We weren’t worried abour Rose this year on the golf course, we just wanted her to get reps. When she finally started to get those reps, she started proving what she has always proven.”
That’s the same thing Rose Zhang proved to herself this week in Boston as she readies for her third Solheim Cup.
Her game is worthy and ready.
