After stunning women’s golf by winning in her first event as professional, Rose Zhang will try to take the next big step when she goes for her first major victory in the Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol.
And it’s been just a month in the making for the 20-year-old Californian, who many believed was going to be the next big celebrity in her sport, similar to when Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa returned in a two-year span ending in 2010.
Zhang has gone from winning her second straight NCAA individual title to turning professional and then living up to all the hype by winning the Mizuho Americas Open earlier this month. It made her the first LPGA Tour winner in a pro debut in 72 years.
What followed was whirlwind of national television appearances, phone and in-person interviews, endorsement offers and then back to Stanford for a study week and finals, including a tough computer science test, in which all she wanted was to get a passing grade. She passed.
After some rest at home and little work on her game, Zhang returns to work Thursday, when she takes on a field that includes all 11 LPGA Tour winners this year in the second major in women’s golf.
While that might intimidate some, not Zhang. Walking up the microphone on Wednesday, there was a wide smile on her face. When the questions followed, she was personable, humble, thoughtful and composed, a breath of fresh air for any athlete.
“Biggest adjustment, I will say that I haven’t been able to work on my game as much as I was able to before as an amateur,” Zhang said. ”There’s a lot more obligations that you have to do as a professional. You have a lot more press interviews, conferences, and it does take a lot out of you and a lot out of your time and energy. Therefore, I haven’t been able to grind like I usually have been.”
Grinding for Zhang was going out on the range and smashing balls around for four hours. She hasn’t done that recently because she was tired after a long college season…
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