- Rose Zhang is a women's golf superstar who has drawn comparisons to the one and only Tiger Woods.
- The 20-year-old made her highly anticipated LPGA debut after 141 weeks as the top-ranked amateur.
- She shot two under par in Thursday's opening round of the Mizuho Americas Open in New Jersey.
Tiger Woods set the standard for kicking off an illustrious golf career.
Nearly three decades later, Rose Zhang is breaking that mold.
As a Stanford Cardinal standout, Woods matched a school record by winning 11 tournaments over his two-year college tenure. Zhang broke that longstanding record in the same span.
Now, like Woods did 27 years ago, Zhang is embarking on a highly-anticipated professional career. Coming off back-to-back NCAA individual national titles — an unprecedented feat in the women's game and one that Woods did not accomplish on the men's side — the 20-year-old Arcadia, California, native walked away from 141 weeks as World Amateur Golf's top-ranked player to compete in the LPGA.
And Zhang is already off to a hot start in the pros.
On Thursday, she teed off at the Mizuho Americas Open at New Jersey's Liberty National Golf Course for her first professional tournament. In a field consisting of 120 of the greatest women's golf players on the planet, Zhang finished her opening round among the top 15 in the tournament.
She capped off Day 1 with a bang — well, a birdie — to finish two under par and five strokes back from the lead.
—LPGA (@LPGA) June 1, 2023
Zhang still has three more rounds to go with a whopping $2,750,000 purse on the line. But if her opening day is any indication, she's right where she belongs in the LPGA.
