Stanford women’s golf star Rose Zhang turns professional

Stanford sophomore Rose Zhang, essentially the most adorned participant in newbie ladies’s golf historical past, introduced on Friday that she’s turning professional.

The primary lady to win two NCAA Division I particular person nationwide championships, Zhang will make her LPGA debut at subsequent week’s inaugural Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty Nationwide Golf Membership in Jersey Metropolis, New Jersey.

“The countless love, help and inspiration from so many individuals introduced me up to now of my golf profession,” Zhang posted to Instagram. “From my teammates to my coaches and trainers, to my family and friends — you’ve all been integral in my journey, shaping me as an individual and participant whereas making sacrifices for my success. You’ve gotten made it attainable for me to pursue my goals.”

America Golf Affiliation, shortly after Zhang’s announcement, granted her a particular exemption Friday into the U.S. Girls’s Open, which might be performed July 6-9 at Pebble Seashore Golf Hyperlinks in Pebble Seashore, California.

The 20-year-old Zhang, from Irvine, California, additionally has been given an exemption and is anticipated to compete within the AIG Girls’s Open at Walton Heath Golf Membership in Surrey, England, on Aug. 10-13.

She is a three-time winner of the McCormack Medal, which is given yearly to the highest newbie participant on the earth by the R&A. She held the No. 1 rating within the Girls’s World Novice Golf Rating for a document 141 consecutive weeks, relationship again to September 2020.

In two seasons at Stanford, Zhang received 12 occasions in 20 begins, together with eight occasions in 10 occasions this season. Tiger Woods received 11 occasions in 26 begins throughout his profession with the Cardinal.

Zhang received the Annika Award as the highest ladies’s participant in school golf the previous two seasons. She twice set NCAA single-season scoring data with a 69.68 common as a freshman and 68.81 as a sophomore. She had a 69.42 common in 62 collegiate rounds.

“Stanford is actually a particular place with particular individuals,” Zhang wrote in her submit. “I’d by no means take these unimaginable reminiscences and experiences without any consideration. With that in thoughts, whereas I’m pursuing my skilled profession, I’ll proceed to earn my diploma within the years to return. Stanford fam ceaselessly.”

As an newbie, Zhang received the 2020 U.S. Girls’s Novice, 2021 U.S. Women’ Junior and the Augusta Nationwide Girls’s Novice in April.

“It is cliche to say, however I by no means dreamed of getting the chance to educate the best feminine newbie of all-time,” Stanford coach Anne Walker mentioned in an announcement. “Rose Zhang has led our group with class each on and off the golf course day-after-day for 2 years. She’s damaged each document, received each championship and brought our group to the highest of school golf. I am fairly sure I will by no means coach anybody fairly like Rose once more — she’s a generational participant.”