Rose Zhang’s rides ‘struggle bus’ after historic win with Women’s PGA Championship on tap

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Rose Zhang didn’t hit the professional trail after her first win earlier this month, instead she went back to Stanford and took her finals.

Rose Zhang won the Mizuho Americas Open in her first-ever LPGA start. She became the first woman to accomplish that feat since 1951. But it wasn’t all fun and games after that victory. She had to fly back out to California and take her finals at Stanford.

She spoke with the media Wednesday ahead of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Zhang was frank, per Golf.com’s Clair Rogers. This week will mark her first major championship since turning pro.

“We were all on the struggle bus together,” Zhang said.

After winning on the east coast and flying back, anyone in her shoes would be driving that struggle bus. She may have taken over the golf world that weekend, but when she got back to campus, it was just another day for the 20-year-old.

Zhang had a busy few weeks, from winning back-to-back national championship titles to winning her first tournament as a professional golfer. However, it doesn’t seem like she is letting all her recent success go to her head.

When Zhang took home the Mizuho Americas Open, she jumped 420 spots to No. 62 in the world golf rankings. Now, she is No. 64 after taking time off to finish school, per ESPN. She accepted a full membership on the LPGA which means she is eligible for this year’s U.S. Solheim Cup team.

That victory put her in one of the marquee groups of this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol. She will play with Lexi Thompson and Minjee Lee. They tee off at 8:39 a.m. ET on Thursday.