Last season’s Epson Tour Rookie of Year Yahui Zhang zipped up the leaderboard on Moving Day at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass.

The 2025 LPGA Tour rookie carded a near-perfect 7-under 65 to rocket up the standings from T25 to T5 with 18 holes to play in Chandler, Ariz., a third-round effort that saw her make one bogey, six birdies and an eagle to put herself in contention for her first LPGA Tour title on Sunday at Whirlwind Golf Club.

After posting rounds of 69 and 68 over the first two days in the desert to sit at 7-under overall, Zhang raced out of the gates early on day three, landing two quick birdies on the par-4 1st and par-5 2nd holes to move to 9-under for the tournament. The highlight of the 19-year-old’s round then came on the 264-yard, par-4 5th hole when Zhang drove the green and buried her resulting eagle try, a performance that the People’s Republic of China native called “out of my mind.”

Now at 11-under total, Zhang picked up one last front-nine birdie on the par-5 7th hole before parring eight and nine to turn in 31, and she struck once again with another birdie on 12 to climb to 12-under with six holes to play. She made par on her next three holes and then grabbed back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17 to move to 15-under for the tournament, but Zhang stumbled with a bogey on 18, ultimately posting a 65 to share fifth with LPGA Tour winners Allisen Corpuz, Hyo Joo Kim, Haeran Ryu and Jeeno Thitikul at 14-under overall.

“I was quite worried about today, the score I got at the morning, because the wind I saw on the app is really big and the pin place is quite difficult when I saw on the email,” said Zhang. “I (was) talking with my father, and I just (was like), just do it. I'm the rookie. What I'm worry about? Just like that. After I got two birdies and two more holes to save the par, all I was thinking is if I got birdie, I just play it. If I can sink the par, I have to save it.”

The Ford Championship is Zhang’s second-ever start on the LPGA Tour, as she played in her first tournament in her home country earlier this month at the Blue Bay LPGA, an event in which she missed the cut. She earned LPGA Tour Membership via the 2024 Race for the Card on the Epson Tour last year, finishing second in the season-long points race to secure LPGA status for 2025, and gives a lot of credit to her experience on that circuit as the reason why she was prepared for the challenge of the LPGA Tour this season.

“I have come to America like two years, and the last year I go to play the Epson Tour, so I think that's pretty good because the name is Epson Tour Road to LPGA,” Zhang explained on Saturday. “That made me used to the American course a lot, and also the academy that I stay, IJGA, the boss there is so nice. Andrew Summers let me stay there and practice a lot.”

But Zhang has also gotten a lot of advice from Chinese major champion and Olympic medalist Shanshan Feng, who amassed 10 LPGA Tour victories throughout her career and also ascended to No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings in 2017. Feng has been known to identify and encourage young talents in her home country of China, supporting several young athletes as they chase their dreams of playing golf at the highest level, and Zhang was no exception when it came to being on the receiving end of Feng’s mentorship.

“The most person is Shanshan Feng,” Zhang said. “I think all of you guys have heard this name before. She have teach me a lot of things, and she is also the one that prove me into the Epson Tour and LPGA Tour. She told me that I think you can play. I think you can play on Epson. I think you can play on LPGA. She gave me a lot of confidence in China when I talk to her.”

Now Zhang will be contending for her first LPGA Tour title on Sunday at Whirlwind Golf Club as she is currently sitting just four strokes off 54-hole leader Lilia Vu’s pace through three rounds. But no matter what happens on the final day, the rookie will still have plenty to be proud of this week in Chandler, Ariz., as she not only has an opportunity to become the 2025 season’s second first-year winner alongside Rio Takeda but could also pick up the first top-10 result of her young LPGA Tour career at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass.

Last Season's Epson Tour Rookie of the Year Yahui Zhang Zips Up Leaderboard at Ford Champ

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