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Rose Zhang, the 20-year-old phenom, finally showed she is human after all at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Rose Zhang is quickly becoming one of the faces of golf. The 20-year-old phenom out of Stanford is playing in the first major of her pro career. Zhang posted a 1-under 70 on Thursday at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
That put her inside the top 10. Friday was a different story though. Zhang struggled to get anything going, playing through heavy rain during her round.
She finished with a career worst 3-over, 74. To be completely fair, she has played six rounds total in her pro career.
She previously became the first woman since Beverly Hanson in 1951 to win their LPGA debut. Zhang captured the Mizuho Americas Open Championship in a playoff against Jennifer Kupcho earlier this month.
She battled on the front nine, alternating dropping and picking up shots. But on the back nine, things went sideways.
She bogeyed the par-4 1st and the par-4 5th. After getting one back on six, Zhang went bogey-double over the next two holes. That dropped her into a tie for 40th. However, the rookie showed some gumption and salvaged a birdie on her final hole to finish out the round.
Despite her struggles, Zhang made the cut. She enters the weekend 2-over, sitting tied for 28th.
Meanwhile, last week’s champion, Leona McGuire, continued to play well. She carded a 3-under 68 Friday to take a solo lead into the weekend at 5-under par.
Historic Baltusrol has played very difficult thus far this week. There are only 15 women under par. If Zhang wants to make even more history, she’s going to have to go really low Saturday.
