‘She is a sage’: How Rose Zhang helps fellow Stanford player Michael Thorbjornsen, who will hit the first shot at the U.S. Open

BROOKLINE, Mass. – It hadn’t really hit amateur Michael Thorbjornsen that he was hitting the first tee shot at the 122nd U.S. Open until a reporter asked what it meant. Suddenly, that 6:45 a.m. ET tee shot on Thursday at The Country Club took on new meaning for a 20-year-old who grew up not far in Wellesley.