NAPLES, Fla. — Rose Zhang and Michael Kim might be the only duo in the field this week at the Grant Thornton Invitational who have a mascot to go along with their team name.

Zhang and Kim have dubbed themselves the Golden Cardinal, a clever nod to their respective collegiate affiliations, as Zhang played for Stanford University and is currently pursuing a degree in Communications at the Ivy League institution, while Kim attended the University of California, Berkley.

But they’ve decided that their squad’s mascot is Smokey the Bear, a character created by the U.S. Forest Service to raise awareness and support for wildfire prevention, an idea that Rose was quick to admit didn’t originate from her or Michael in their post-round press conference after day one at Tiburón Golf Club.

“It was our caddies, not us, but it's okay,” Zhang said with a smile. “We don't mind Smokey the Bear.”

Considering how well Zhang and Kim played in the first round of the 2025 Grant Thornton Invitational, however, picking a wildfire-fighting mammal as their team mascot might wind up being a pretty apt choice at the end of the week in Florida.

The pair opened with a 14-under 58 on Friday in the scramble format and are currently in a three-way tie for fourth, three strokes off the pace of the two teams tied at the top of the leaderboard at 17-under, pairs that are comprised of Charley Hull and Michael Brennan, as well as Lexi Thompson and Wyndham Clark.

Zhang and Kim made six pars, 10 birdies and two eagles in round one, with their two eagles coming on the par-5 1st and par-5 17th holes at Tiburón Golf Club and four of their birdies being recoded consecutively in a four-hole stretch from Nos. 6 to 9. And when they asked what was working well early in the week in the Sunshine State, Zhang and Kim both readily agreed that their opening 58 was a totally collaborative effort.

“It felt like we ham-and-egged it really nice,” Kim said. “I had a couple of good tee shots. Rose hit a couple of good tee shots when each weren't in the best spots, and we rolled in a few putts, and a couple of eagles is always a good bonus.”

This is Zhang’s second appearance in the Grant Thornton Invitational, as she first teed it up in the mixed-gender team event in its inaugural edition in 2023 alongside Sahith Theegala. Kim, on the other hand, is making his debut at Tiburón Golf Club.

And while it’s sometimes challenging to figure out how to play alongside a partner and learn their eccentricities, both golf-wise and personality-wise, the Golden Cardinal hasn’t had too much trouble in that department, with Zhang and Kim’s demeanors being rather complementary, making for a calm, cool and collected experience on the golf course.

“We're pretty chill on and off the golf course,” Zhang explained. “I feel like if we have a bad shot or whatever, we may make some snarky comments, but other than that, I think we usually keep cool. I think that helps a lot because our emotions aren't too high or too low, and that helps a lot when we're playing the same holes, are complimenting each other with different shots.”

Round two will see the 16 teams in the field at the Grant Thornton Invitational play foursomes, also known as alternate shot, where one player will tee off on the odd holes, and the other will tee off on the even holes. The partners will then alternate hitting shots until the ball is holed.

Luckily, Zhang and Kim feel like their styles of play are similar enough where one of the trickiest formats in all of golf shouldn’t give them too many fits during Saturday’s second round. And the Californians will be working hard to capitalize on that advantage as they try to pass some of the teams ahead of them on the leaderboard and put themselves in a strong 36-hole position to be able to contend for the Grant Thornton Invitational title on Sunday.

“I think the biggest thing is obviously we want to play our own styles of golf, but I feel like Michael and I have a pretty similar way of how we see shots, of how we hit into greens,” said Zhang. “So, honestly, we don't want to deviate too much from what we know, but at the same time, it's being mindful of where the other person's going to be, where the other person's going to end up. And we'll have conversations about who's going to tee off first and whatnot.”

Rose Zhang, Michael Kim Zip Up Leaderboard Early at Grant Thornton Invitational

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