Rose Zhang’s ‘difficult’ journey is coming to an end. Now a new test will begin
Rose Zhang always wanted to walk this road, no matter how difficult it was.
Golf has always been Zhang’s defining characteristic, if not mostly very good in golf. He won 12 times at Stanford, including back-to-back NCAA Individual Championships. She won the US Women’s Amateur and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. He became the first player in 72 years to win in his pro debut at the 2023 Mizuho Americas Open.
But while golf is an important part of Rose Zhang’s DNA, it is not everything she is. He wanted more. Even when he became a student after his second year at Stanford, Zhang always planned to finish his degree. Juggling life as a full-time professional golfer with a Stanford course load was difficult. So Zhang stepped back from full-time golf at the LPGA last winter to focus on school and pursue a lifelong dream that had nothing to do with birdies and bogeys.
What followed was a trying time that asked many of the 22-year-olds.
Taking 22 credits over the winter while trying to stay at the top of his game took a toll on his body. He suffered from neck pain on both sides, which left him unable to practice or play for two months. He missed the deadline on his return and played in four majors, his best finish being a T35 at Evian. A glimpse of Rose Zhang’s past shows when she entered the FM tournament in Boston, showing her that everything she wants – golf and qualifications – can be achieved if you slow down when the going gets tough.
“I’d say this year is the first time I hit a hard putt in my entire golf career,” Zhang said in Boston. “But I will say that I think that success helps because you know that it is in you, but it can also affect your appearance in the present and the future because you expect a lot from yourself in your situation.
“It’s as simple as sticking to the process and making sure you’re getting some good shots in there. It’s a new thing for me, but I feel like I’m in a really good position and I’ll be able to keep building from there.”
Zhang will put it together in this week’s Fortinet Founders Cup at Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club, almost at the other end of a long, arduous journey that has tested him in every way. With her last term of classes over, Zhang has just one 10-page paper between her and some kind of success. He will be leaving in June, but for all intents and purposes, Zhang is set to enter a new chapter — one that will be unusual for him due to his singular focus.
“These last two, three weeks are what I have to come [to terms] with the truth and always with the truth that I will be Rose a golfer,” said Zhang on Tuesday at the Fortinet Founders Cup. “I think for a long time I always entered the academy with one foot in the professional world and actually play, but I never thought of myself as two feet in the professional work.”
Zhang turned a novice star into an instant success on the LPGA. He won the Mizuho Americas Open and Founders Cup. His star was rising at a time when the LPGA needed talents with an infectious personality.
But sometimes fate calls you somewhere else, speaking to a different part of your soul. Zhang never thought twice about putting golf on the back burner to finish what he started at Stanford. That decision tested him mentally and physically. But he never wavered, and the next course should help him as he makes a full return to golf’s limelight.
“I would say I had to spend a lot of time and energy thinking about why I want to do these things, why I want to play tour golf, go to college, everything in between,” Zhang said Tuesday. “It’s been a big personal journey for me. I think when things get really tough, and you’re always 60 hours a week and you’re working on top of sponsor days and traveling, and you’re still trying to train for competitions, I think the balance is very difficult. I had to learn what’s my limit and what works best with a very demanding schedule like that.
“But most importantly, it was important to keep the faith [that] this is a journey, and this is how I have to grow and learn. That’s how I was able to reach the end.”
Those lessons – dedication, patience, perseverance – can be applied all over the world, whether you’re researching early civilizations or grinding on a five-footer to save money. Over the past 16 months, Zhang has immersed himself in every part of the road he has chosen to walk. He played in the majors but he was rusty. The competitor faced the momentary reality of not being as sharp as he had been for most of his conscious life. It would have been easy to reverse course and choose to live in the comfort of the ordinary. But Zhang did not regret his choice. Is it difficult? Yes. Is it worth it? Of course, with the full payoff still unknown, he continues to digest all that his journey has taught him.
“I think this was one of the most important achievements in my personal development,” Zhang said of graduating. “I feel like there’s a lot of noise about whether it was a good decision or not. Personally, I think when I finished my sophomore year I always thought that I wanted to finish, no matter how hard it would be, no matter how much my body would break or possibly-wise how that would work.
“I never gave it a second thought. To see the end of the finish line so close … means the world.”
As for what the new reality awaiting Zhang looks like, he is not sure. But there is an unknown freedom, and Rose Zhang is ready for whatever comes with her next chapter – ready to see what life as Rose Zhang, a golfer, is like.
“I’m not sure how it’s going to go,” Zhang said. “I’m excited to see where it goes. If it’s something I’m still passionate about. I’m going to dive 100% into everything. This whole year in my opinion is going to be my first official rookie year to like, okay, that’s when I’m going to run this game and see how much better I can do in the sport.
“We will make things right.”
