Those days of working silently on her golf game for hours without distraction is a thing of the past for sensation Rose Zhang.
The 20-year-old won in her LPGA debut earlier this month and the hoopla is soaring as she prepares to play in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the first major of her professional career.
“It’s been a whirlwind for sure with everything happening, but I’ve been enjoying every moment,” Zhang said during a press conference on Wednesday, one day before play begins in Springfield, N.J.
Zhang said the media attention has been more than she anticipated since winning the Mizuho Americas Open in Jersey City.
“It’s been quite a lot, to be fair,” Zhang said. “I definitely did not expect a lot of frenzy to occur over my last win. I expected people to know. I expected people to be just super happy about it, but I never thought that media would also be like all over it, as well.”
After winning her first LPGA event, Zhang returned to Stanford to prepare for finals. She just completed her sophomore year.
“I studied at night with my friends, and we were all in the struggle bus together,” Zhang said.
Zhang said campus life remained the same and nobody made a big deal of her sudden fame.
It reminded her of how her recent past included hanging out all day on the golf course working on her game.
“I feel like as an amateur, you take it for granted where you can just be out on the range, no one is talking to you,” Zhang said. “You can hit balls for like four hours. You can chip, putt, do whatever you need to.
“But I can’t really do that anymore. That will definitely take a bit of adjusting just because when your game isn’t as solid and when you’ve been playing a lot of events, going on the golf course, your game adjusts to the different weather conditions, how you’re playing golf courses, and yeah, I think that will be the biggest transition for me.”
Zhang will be paired with fellow American Lexi Thompson and Australia’s Minjee Lee for the first two rounds.
She has been studying Baltusrol Golf Club’s Lower Course to prepare for 72 holes of expected grueling golf.
“I would say this golf course is very difficult,” Zhang said. “It’s definitely a major championship type of golf course. I expected nothing less from it. The rough is high. Greens are firm and very quick. There’s a lot of undulation, so you’re going to have to be able to play the ball where you need to when you’re hitting into approach shots.
“Even if you hit a really good shot and you’re on the wrong side of the hole, it’s going to trickle down into a rough patch or it will trickle down to the lowest part of the green. So you’re going to have to be able to get your lag putts in, understand how to use slopes to your advantage.”
As for it being her first major since turning pro, Zhang is trying to keep expectations in order.
“I wouldn’t place it on another platform or pedestal for me to just admire and look up to,” Zhang said. “It’s another event. I’m still playing the same sport. I’m just in New Jersey again and trying to play well.”
Zhang played in eight majors as an amateur, with her best finish being a tie for 11th at the 2020 ANA Inspiration.
–Field Level Media
