Rose Zhang’s humble brag as U.S. Women’s Open gets underway should frighten competitors

Rose Zhang will play her first U.S. Women’s Open as a professional at Pebble Beach Golf Links of all places. She is no stranger to this iconic golf course. During her collegiate career, Zhang shot a 63 in the Carmel Cup, the course record for women.

She is used to making history. Zhang and her collegiate teammates were some of the first women to compete in a college tournament at Pebble. It’s a full-circle moment for her. Zhang started her final collegiate season at Pebble and now will play for a U.S. Open on the same track.

“I really felt that my game was ready for the next level, so here I am,” Zhang said in a piece with the USGA.

This year she has exploded onto the scene making history left and right. She broke collegiate records and an LPGA one by winning in her debut. Zhang may be a rookie on paper, but she doesn’t play like it.

“I would have never expected myself to be in this position,” Zhang said. “Just being able to be in contention has been incredible, feeling-wise, and I feel like my game has been on par with a lot of the professionals and the veterans out here. But it’s not something that I anticipated.”

She is two starts into her professional career, with a win and a T8 in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Those are pretty good stats. History will be on the line again this week as she looks to win twice in three starts and her first major championship.

“I have just felt like these positions have just been, I guess, in a way, it has helped me to really realize that I have a lot of potential and I can become better,” Zhang said. “I’m always just someone to try to put my foot forward and improve even more.”

The 20-year-old has played in four U.S. Women’s Opens as an amateur. She made 2-of-4 cuts, with her best finish being a T40, which came last year at Pine Needles. However, her course knowledge and secret weapon caddie Jason Gilroyed could help her add the biggest trophy to her cabinet yet.