Adjusting to her new normal: Rose Zhang trying to stay grounded in first major as a pro

How has life been for Rose Zhang since her historic win at the Mizuho Americas Open in early June?

“Pretty hectic.”

The 20-year-old is making her first major start since turning pro last month at this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. It’s not her first major start ever, she’s had plenty of those – eight, to be exact – as an amateur, but she’s certainly never been in the position she now finds herself. Unsurprisingly, she’s trying to keep everything in perspective.

Full-field tee times from the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

“It’s super exciting, no doubt,” Zhang said Wednesday about making her first start at the Women’s PGA Championship. “But I wouldn’t say it’s anything different. I wouldn’t place it on another platform or pedestal for me to just admire and look up to. It’s another event. I’m still playing the same sport. I’m just in New Jersey again and trying to play well.”

The game is certainly still the same, and while the majors present a more difficult challenge, her record so far indicates she’s a force to be reckoned with out the gate: eight starts with only two missed cuts and a T-11 best finish (2020 Chevron).

The difference is where Zhang is at in her career, and specifically, the waves she’s been making in the few weeks since she turned pro after winning her second-straight NCAA individual title.

In that time, Zhang played Mizuho – her first start as a pro, down the road at Liberty National – won in a playoff against Jennifer Kupcho, earned her LPGA card and returned to Stanford to finish her spring quarter finals, including computer science – “quite difficult” but, of course, she passed.

All that is normal: playing, winning, school. Zhang has been balancing it for years. The new variable is the media attention and, essentially, running her own business, which leaves little time for practice and, you know, playing golf, in general.

“I would say commitments are definitely much more prominent in my life. As a professional, you have to do a lot more things, and you’re essentially your own business boss, so you have to really navigate towards what your career looks like, what your team looks like,” she said. “I’ve been taking a lot more, I guess, quote-unquote, business phone calls than I was when I was a college athlete, college amateur.”

As talented as Zhang is, she can’t defy physics and give herself more time in the day; she gets the same 24 hours as the rest of us, meaning she hasn’t been able to “grind” like she usually does.

“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. You can hit balls for like four hours. You can chip, putt, do whatever you need to,” she said.

“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.”

Not to mention she’s played a hefty schedule over the past few months and has had little time for rest.

“We played Pac-12s, came back for a little bit, and then immediately went to regionals, nationals, and then I played Mizuho. It’s been a long stretch of golf, so my body has been tired. It’s been a little burned out. I’ve been trying to navigate that, as well,” she said.

It’s a new normal that you can only prepare for to a certain extent. You’re never going to be 100% ready – there’s always going to be unexpected changes that come along with such a major shift in your career. Even so, Zhang is still her poised, confident self, and she’s made time for family in the past few weeks, saying bye to Stanford in the middle of June and moving home to spend time in Irvine, California, in what she called “wholesome time.”

“They are a sense of normalcy when I’m around them, especially back home,” Zhang said. “My family, my mom, my brother and my sister-in-law. I was playing with my niece in the last three days that I was at home. Obviously, my niece is two-and-a-half; she’s not going to know that I won a tournament, or she doesn’t even know that I play golf. It’s more… I go back home and everything is just very relaxed, and I have a good time.”

That quality time is more important now than ever as Zhang prepares for life on the road, competing on tour and embracing her position as one of the game’s biggest new stars. All eyes are on her – she’s getting shout-outs from Steph Curry and meeting Al Roker – and she’s taking the attention in stride. Her budding sport celebrity status might be cause for concern for some, but as that first-win buzz wears off, she’s excited to get back to doing what she loves: playing golf.

“Just understanding what rest I need and how to take care of whatever I need to, all of that kind of funnels to how I should use my time, and practice isn’t necessarily top priority at that point,” she said. “But in the coming weeks, I’ll definitely plan on trying to get back in the game. But I think all it needs is some fine tuning, and we should be OK.”

After taking some time to appreciate what she’s accomplished and focus on things outside of her game, Zhang is ready to get back out there and add to her already impressive resume.

“[The Mizuho win] was more just validation for myself to say that, hey, I can compete at the highest level, and as long as I do what I need to, as long as I perform as well as I can, I’ll be able to be in contention week in and week out,” she said.

Winning in her first start as a pro might not even be the No. 1 headline on Zhang’s Christmas card this year, seeing as she’s earned the attention of U.S. Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis, not to mention some of the biggest names in the women’s game today.

“I had her on my radar just more for 2024, because I knew it would be hard for her to win because that was the only way she was going to have a chance to play for ’23 – was for her to win,” Lewis, who is captain this year and next as the Solheim Cup returns to an even-year rotation, said Wednesday. “So I’ve been following her, and now, obviously, we’re following things a little bit more closely. But, like everybody else, she can still go earn her spot. She’s obviously moving up Rolex [world rankings] pretty quickly (currently No. 64). I’d love for her to make it on her own and take the decision out of my hands.”

While Lewis is also in the field at Baltusrol Golf Club this week, one of her likely team members, Nelly Korda, hasn’t seen Zhang play at all, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t excited about the new challenger and potential teammate.

“It was amazing to see that she won her first week out as a professional,” the current world No. 2 said. “I think it’s going to be really good for women’s golf. Hopefully we have some great battles coming down the stretch over the years.”

Current world No. 3 Lydia Ko was particularly impressed with Zhang’s performance at Mizuho.

“I bet there was a lot of weight on her shoulders, but for her to finish in that style, go into a playoff and win, I think she pretty much proved any doubters that hey, like don’t need to be worrying about me, I’m casually doing my own business and doing it pretty well,” Ko said. “She seems like she doesn’t get fazed too much about all the attention that’s surrounding her. She’s a very special player, and I don’t think you need me to say she’s special. She’s already… her accolades and everything speak for itself.”

Winning in your first start as a pro is hard. Winning in your first major start as a pro? With all eyes on you? That’s arguably an even tougher ask.

If Zhang did win this week, she would be the first to do so in three years, since A Lim Kim won the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open. Before her, in 2019, Hinako Shibuno won the AIG Women’s British Open.

Both Kim’s and Shibuno’s wins marked their first-ever major starts, amateur or professional, so Zhang is already at an advantage. She knows what contending in a major feels like. She’s prepared for the more difficult course setup and, specifically, the unpredictable greens.

“That’s what I’ve been doing in practice rounds, is just trying to get a feel for what the greens are doing. Rough is super thick,” she said. “The chipping techniques that I’ve been using this week are definitely different from any other chipping techniques that I’ve been using.”

Course distinctions aside, Zhang is approaching Baltusrol like any other. She’s played in majors, and she’s still comparing this week to other tests, whether in college or on tour. 

That ability to ground herself and her game might be the young star’s greatest strength in her bid to make history once again.