Rose Zhang won her second straight individual national championship less than two weeks ago. Incredibly, the 20-year-old entered the final day as the solo leader in her LPGA debut at the Mizuho Americas Open.
“Zhang Effect:” Rose Zhang’s LPGA debut transforms women’s professional golf immediately
Rose Zhang has the solo lead heading into the final round of the Mizuho Americas Open in her LPGA debut and is transcending the sport already.
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Ahead of her round on Sunday, she is trending on Twitter, and people are talking about her. What she is doing is unheard of and downright incredible. To lead early in the tournament is one thing, but to lead the field by two shots on Sunday is mind-blowing.
Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols started a movement on Twitter Saturday night trying to get the coverage changed for the LPGA because Zhang is in the process of making history.
Seventy-two years is a long time — if Zhang wins, she will elevate herself into the spotlight even more. No woman has won their LPGA Tour debut since 1951. Nichols has made some movement this week in terms of changing how the LPGA acts with rookies — she got Zhang’s photo on her LPGA profile, which usually doesn’t happen for a while.
Her Twitter rant seems to have caught the LPGA’s attention as they announced on Sunday morning that an extra hour of coverage had been added to Peacock.
Zhang tees off at 1:55 p.m. ET, but coverage won’t begin until 3:30 p.m., so most will miss her front nine, but it’s a step in the right direction — a positive step for women’s professional golf.
She shot a 70 on Day 1, followed it up with a 69 on Friday and then fired off a bogey-free 66 on Saturday, utilizing moving day to her advantage.
Nichols isn’t the only person tweeting about Zhang for her to trend on Twitter. There have been some incredible reactions to what Zhang is doing this week, and as the hours tick by getting closer to her tee time, it’s hard to ignore them.
Here are some of the best reactions to the potential history that Zhang could make this evening.
People are already on the Zhang train, and it’s great to see. Today could be a historic day in golf, and it may come from a woman.
Whether you are into women’s golf or not, today may be the day to check it out. Zhang might not win, but regardless of that, she is already getting a lot of eyes on the women’s game. She could win, opening an even bigger can of worms for her, but hopefully for getting more LPGA coverage.
Zhang is a trendsetter who already shows how incredible women’s golf is. These reactions to her just leading are already shaping up for a fantastic Sunday of golf.
