Stanford’s Rose Zhang headlines 10 Annika Award finalists
Can anyone stop Rose Zhang from becoming the third repeat Annika Award winner?
It appears unlikely as the Stanford sophomore, one of 10 finalists for this year’s Annika Award presented by Stifel, has dominated the competition this season to the tune of seven wins, four more than any other player in Division I. Zhang enters her NCAA Championship title defense looking for her 12th career victory.
Zhang is one of four Annika Award finalists to have won NCAA regional titles last week, joining Mississippi State’s Julia Lopez Ramirez, Virginia’s Amanda Sambach and Georgia’s Jenny Bae.
The Annika Award is given annually to the most outstanding Division I women’s college golfer, as voted on by players, coaches and media, and considering college-only events this season. Past winners of the award include two-time recipients Leona Maguire and Maria Fassi.
Voting is now open and runs through the completion of the stroke-play portion of the NCAA Championship, which ends next Monday. For the voting link, click here.
Here is a closer look at each of the 10 finalists:
Jenny Bae, Sr., Georgia
Ranking: Golfstat – 3; Golfweek – 5
Top-10s (wins): 8 (2)
Adjusted scoring average: 70.36
Strength of schedule: 106
Zoe Campos, Soph., UCLA
Ranking: Golfstat – 8; Golfweek – 6
Top-10s (wins): 8 (2)
Adjusted scoring average: 70.69
Strength of schedule: 192
Hannah Darling, Soph., South Carolina
Ranking: Golfstat – 6; Golfweek – 7
Top-10s (wins): 6 (0)
Adjusted scoring average: 71.09
Strength of schedule: 4
Charlotte Heath, Jr., Florida State
Ranking: Golfstat – 7; Golfweek – 8
Top-10s (wins): 7 (1)
Adjusted scoring average: 70.77
Strength of schedule: 213
Rachel Kuehn, Sr., Wake Forest
Ranking: Golfstat – 4; Golfweek – 3
Top-10s (wins): 8 (2)
Adjusted scoring average: 70.4
Strength of schedule: 63
Andrea Lignell, Sr., Ole Miss
Ranking: Golfstat – 12; Golfweek – 10
Top-10s (wins): 6 (2)
Adjusted scoring average: 71.02
Strength of schedule: 123
Ingrid Lindblad, Sr., LSU
Ranking: Golfstat – 5; Golfweek – 4
Top-10s (wins): 8 (2)
Adjusted scoring average: 70.39
Strength of schedule: 45
Julia Lopez Ramirez, Soph., Mississippi State
Ranking: Golfstat – 2; Golfweek – 2
Top-10s (wins): 8 (3)
Adjusted scoring average: 70.02
Strength of schedule: 133
Amanda Sambach, Soph., Virginia
Ranking: Golfstat – 29; Golfweek – 9
Top-10s (wins): 5 (3)
Adjusted scoring average: 71.08
Strength of schedule: 43
Rose Zhang, Soph., Stanford
Ranking: Golfstat – 1; Golfweek – 1
Top-10s (wins): 8 (7)
Adjusted scoring average: 68.74
Strength of schedule: 94