Rose Zhang could barely have got off to a better start in her professional career in the opening round of the LPGA Tour's Mizuho Americas Open.
The 20-year-old only turned professional last week following a record-breaking amateur career that finished with 141 consecutive weeks at the top of the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
If the American was nervous about starting a new chapter, it didn’t show as she picked up where her amateur career left off. After a par at the first, she followed that up with her first birdie as a pro just two holes in.
Two more birdies followed on the fifth and sixth before her first bogey on the ninth. However, she steadied herself with three pars, followed by her fourth birdie of the day courtesy of a brilliant chip-in on the 13th.
OKAY ROSE!Can't get any better than this! pic.twitter.com/dn7wRPMbMnJune 1, 2023
Bogeys on the 14th and 15th saw her temporarily drop to T15, but another birdie on the par 4 18th saw her head to the clubhouse at T5 on two-under, five adrift of early leader Lauren Hartlage.
Much has been made of the potential for Zhang to have a stellar career, and her amateur record more than backs that up. As well as her incredible run of weeks at the top of the world rankings, she also has a string of other achievements.
Among them was a US Women’s Open appearance in 2019 aged 16. The year after, she tied for 11th in the Chevron Championship. Also in 2020, she won the US Women’s Amateur. More recently, in April, she won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in a dramatic playoff over Jenny Bae.
The host of this week’s event is, fittingly, a player who also showed incredible promise early in her career. Michelle Wie-West, who has largely stepped away from playing nowadays, knows a thing or two about high expectations, having turned professional aged 15.
Before the tournament, she said she was confident Zhang would take matters in her stride, saying: “I think she’s going to do great. I think she’s going to transition great. She played the US Open, a couple big events. I always know that debut week is always nerve-wracking. I very vividly remember mine. Didn’t turn out the way I hoped so; hopefully go better for her this week. Yeah, I think she’s going to do great. I think she is a rock star, and I cannot wait to see what she does on tour.”
Given Zhang’s performance in the opening round at Liberty National in New Jersey, there's evidence to suggest Wie-West's judgment will be proved correct.
Zhang, who has experienced caddie Jason Gilroyed on the bag for the tournament, will go into the second round knowing she has little to fear, even among a world-class field. Afterwards, she said: “It was amazing. It felt pretty regular throughout the round once I got into the zone. Jason was by my side. He gave me great yardages, and we just had a great time.
“But the anticipation was for sure there. I feel like there has been a lot of things happening the last couple days and last couple weeks, so for me to come out here and just try to stay composed, I feel like I did a pretty good job at it. Tried my best out there.”
If the start to Zhang’s professional career has been impressive, the promise of more to come seems assured as she grows increasingly accustomed to her new status.
Rose Zhang in her professional debut was 😙🤌 pic.twitter.com/1NQ3ChKau3June 1, 2023
