Rose Zhang does everything with purpose. She plots her way around a course, hitting tee shots into the proper positions, hitting greens in the right spots. The game plan is measured and well-thought-out.
And very effective.
That approach led to arguably the best collegiate career in women’s golf history – in just two years – and it’s the approach she’ll continue to employ as a professional.
In all facets.
Full-field tee times from the Mizuho Americas Open
Zhang is making her professional debut at this week’s LPGA Tour stop, the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National in New York.
She’s coming off a whirlwind week in which she became the first female to win multiple NCAA individual titles on Monday, lost in the semifinals of the team match play on Tuesday, turned 20 on Wednesday, finished up quizzes and turned in essays on Thursday, and announced that she was forgoing her final two years of college on Friday.
The decision didn’t come without plenty of thought. Years of it.
Zhang said, when she first started at Stanford, she told coach Anne Walker that she eventually wanted to play professionally but wasn’t sure when that eventually would be. First, she wanted to see how she fared on the college level.
“I believe that if you’re not able to conquer one stage, then you won’t be able to go on to the next one and say that it’s time for the next step,” she said on Tuesday.
Zhang won four times as a freshman, including an NCAA championship sweep of the individual and team crowns. She then won eight times as a sophomore.
Conquer, she did.
Zhang knows people will be expecting her to continue her winning ways on the LPGA, where she has exemptions into the four remaining majors as well as a handful of other regular events.
She admits to feeling the pressure – “Well, I’m human,” she said – but added, “I have a fundamental core that allows me to just keep going and not think about other people’s expectations.
“Growing up, my family and the people around me have given me high expectations for what I should do as a person, not just as a competitor or a golf player, so I kind of fall back towards those morals and who I am as an individual.”
One of the people she can count on for support is this week’s tournament host, Michelle Wie West.
Wie West graduated from Stanford – which Zhang still plans to do – and knows all about the pressure of expectations.
She expects Zhang will do just fine.
“I think she is a rock star,” Wie West said Tuesday, “and I cannot wait to see what she does on tour.”
Zhang, however, isn’t going to live the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle. And she’s not going to get caught up in the hype or get too frustrated if professional success doesn’t come immediately.
She’s just going to be Rose.
“Try to adjust as much as possible to tour life and figure out what it means to be a professional, what I want to do out here,” she said.
“I feel like I have a lot of time to experiment what I want to do, so that’s kind of the mindset that I have going throughout my career and even going forward.”
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