Rose Zhang made her highly anticipated professional debut on the LPGA Tour during the 2023 season. The 20-year-old turned pro in May following an impressive amateur career that saw her win the 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur, win the 2021 U.S. Girls’ Junior, capture a school record of 12 titles in 20 events at Stanford University, record back-to-back NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship individual victories and win the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Golf fans everywhere expected Zhang to make an impact quickly, but few could have predicted just how well her first foray into professional golf went in 2023. Here are five things to know about Zhang’s rookie season on the LPGA Tour.
Won Mizuho Americas Open, Accepted Membership
Zhang shocked the golf world by winning in her professional debut at the Mizuho Americas Open in June at Liberty National Golf Club, an inaugural event that was hosted by her fellow Stanford University alum Michelle Wie West. After carding rounds of 70, 69, 66 and 74 to finish at 9-under overall, the 20-year-old found herself in a playoff with major champion Jennifer Kupcho on Sunday evening.
The pair matched pars on the first extra hole despite hitting their tee shots offline, and learning from their earlier mistake, the second playoff hole saw both Kupcho and Zhang hit the fairway with their drives. Zhang then stuck her approach shot to approximately six feet as Kupcho almost left her second shot short, barely finding the front edge of the green on her approach. When Kupcho raced her birdie putt from the front of the green well by and missed her resulting putt for par, it only took a Zhang two-putt to capture the improbable victory.
She became the first player since Beverly Hanson in 1951 to win an LPGA Tour event in their professional debut and was the first sponsor invite to win an event since Lydia Ko last did so in 2013. With the win, Zhang was granted immediate LPGA Tour Membership, which she ultimately accepted, making her an LPGA Tour rookie for the remainder of the 2023 season.
Made Major Impact
After her victory, many fans wondered how Zhang would follow up her historic performance at Liberty National throughout the rest of the season. But the 20-year-old had more than a few tricks up her sleeve.
In her next start at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club’s Lower Course, Zhang threatened to pick up her first major title over the weekend, ultimately slipping into a tie for eighth at 5-under total. Then, at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links just a couple of weeks later, Zhang once again impressed, finishing in a tie for ninth after recording a four-day total of 1-over at one of golf’s most storied venues.
Zhang then stumbled at the Dana Open the next week, missing the cut at Highland Meadows Golf Club after a second-round 77 and deciding to take the following week off to prepare for the LPGA’s summer swing through Europe.
Feeling somewhat refreshed, Zhang then repeated her U.S. Women’s Open success at The Amundi Evian Championship, recording rounds of 69, 71, 71 and 68 at Evian Resort Golf Club to earn another T9 result and record a fourth top 10 in her first five starts as a professional. While Zhang quieted down over the late summer and early fall, she did pick up the pace in her final few events of the season, recording a T3 result at the Maybank Championship, a T15 at the TOTO Japan Classic and a T15 at her first CME Group Tour Championship.
Earned Spot on U.S. Solheim Cup Team
Zhang’s early success rapidly propelled her up the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, with her Mizuho Americas Open victory taking her from 482nd to 62nd in the world. Her performances at the majors pushed her inside the top 40 in the standings, and by the end of the U.S. Solheim Cup Qualification Period, Zhang was ranked high enough in the world that she earned one of two automatic qualifying spots that are awarded to the two highest ranked players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings who are not already qualified for the biennial team competition.
As an amateur, Zhang had a lot of experience playing for her country, teeing it up for the Stars and Stripes in an Arnold Palmer Cup, a Junior Ryder Cup, two Junior Solheim Cups and two Curtis Cups, but she didn’t deliver as many points as she wanted to for the U.S. team at Finca Cortesin. Zhang played in three total matches with an 0-2-1 record, earning only a half point for the Americans in the Friday fourball session alongside Megan Khang.
Rocketed Up Rankings
Climbing up any rankings system can be a challenge when you’re starting from the bottom, but Zhang, as she often did during the 2023 season, made rocketing up both the Race to CME Globe standings and the Rolex Rankings look easy. When she accepted immediate LPGA Tour Membership after her win in New Jersey, Zhang was awarded 500 Race to the CME Globe Points which got her to 21st on the points list, the highest position she would hold all year. With one victory and four additional top-10 results, Zhang ultimately finished out her first season on the LPGA Tour ranked 26th in the Race to the CME Globe, an impressive outcome considering she only competed in 13 events.
Zhang began the week at the Mizuho Americas Open sitting No. 482 in the Rolex Rankings as she made her professional debut, but her spectacular play also saw that number improve substantially throughout the 2023 LPGA Tour season. Zhang was ranked as high as 25th in the world after the CME Group Tour Championship and then dropped to 26th in the world on December 4, where she has remained since.
Pocketed Some Paper
The 20-year-old earned four six-figure paychecks in her first five events as a professional on the LPGA Tour, which collectively totaled $1,021,766. After finishing T9 at The Amundi Evian Championship and earning $122,100, Zhang became the fastest player to reach $1 million in career money, doing so in five events over the course of 1 month and 26 days. She bested the previous benchmark of four months and nine days which was set by Hye-Jin Choi in 2022. Zhang was one of 28 players to earn $1 million or more during the 2023 LPGA Tour season.
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