"LPGA Tour Debut Win" ... "Who is Rose Jang?"

Champion with a rare record in 72 years at the Americas Open
Longest holder of the No. 1 amateur world ranking
First-ever back-to-back individual NCAA champion with a brilliant career history

A new star has emerged on the U.S. Women's Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour.

The protagonist is Rose Zhang (USA). On the 4th (local time), she defeated Jennifer Kupcho (USA) in a sudden-death playoff at the LPGA Tour Mizuho Americas Open (total prize money $2.75 million) held at Liberty National Golf Club (par 72, 6,656 yards) in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA. She caused an upset by winning immediately in her LPGA Tour debut, the first time in 72 years.

Rose Zhang is smiling brightly while holding the trophy right after winning the Mizuho Americas Open, her LPGA Tour debut.
[Jersey City (USA)=AFP·Yonhap News]

Rose Zhang is only the second player in history, and the first in 72 years since Beverly Hanson (USA) at the 1951 Eastern Open, to win in her professional debut on the LPGA Tour. Hinako Shibuno (Japan) also won her first LPGA Tour event at the 2019 AIG Women's British Open, but Shibuno had prior professional experience in Japan.

In 2018, Ko Jin-young won the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open, becoming the first player in 67 years since Hanson in 1951 to win her first tournament as an LPGA Tour member. However, Ko Jin-young had previously competed in LPGA Tour events as a professional and even won in 2017, so her case differs from Rose Zhang’s, whose debut was this tournament.

Although Rose Zhang turned professional, she was not yet an LPGA Tour member, but with this victory, she will immediately gain full membership status on the regular tour. The most recent non-member win on the LPGA Tour before Rose Zhang was Maya Stark (Sweden) at the ISPS Handa World Invitational in August last year, making this Rose Zhang’s win the first in 10 months.

Rose Zhang is of Chinese descent. She was born on May 24, 2003. She started playing golf at the age of 9. In 2021, she enrolled at Stanford University, a prestigious golf school. Rose Zhang dominated the amateur stage. She holds the longest record (141 weeks) as the world number one amateur. She achieved the first-ever back-to-back individual NCAA titles and holds the record for the most wins (12) at Stanford University. This surpasses the 11 wins of Tiger Woods (USA), the "Golf Emperor" and a Stanford alumnus.

In April, Rose Zhang also claimed the title at the Augusta Women's Amateur. She declared her professional status at the end of May and made her professional debut at this tournament. Rose Zhang competed in 13 LPGA Tour events as an amateur. She finished tied for 11th at the 2020 Chevron Championship, a major tournament.

Standing 169 cm tall, Rose Zhang is known for her powerful drives. She averaged 267 yards over four days in this tournament. She is a player noted for the precision of her shots. In her professional debut, she recorded an 85.71% fairway hit rate and a 77.78% greens in regulation rate. Her average number of putts was 30. Right after her victory, Rose Zhang exclaimed, "I can't believe what just happened," and added, "I won the NCAA tournament just a few weeks ago, and it's amazing to have this result today after turning professional."