It’s easy to forget that Rose Zhang is 20 years old. The California native has rapidly ascended the women’s golf ladder and is now one-for-one when it comes to winning LPGA events as a professional. What she’s doing is unparalleled in the sport. She knows this. The world knows this. And yet, none of this matters when it comes to finals.
After besting Jennifer Kupcho on the second hole of a tense playoff to win the Mizuho Americas Open, Zhang won’t have much time to soak in the glory and celebrate the remarkable win. She has places to be, tests to complete and a dorm move-out to accomplish. That sounds almost as difficult as taking on Liberty National.
Appearing on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” Monday, Zhang echoed what she said late Sunday after her historic victory: “I did turn down next week’s ShopRite LPGA just because I have to get back on campus, I have a couple of tests to finish. Finals … I have three finals to take. Got a paper. Have a problem set for CS [computer science] class. It’s just going to be a really hectic week not on the golf course.
“I’m moving out the 13th out of my dorm. So, that’ll definitely take up a lot of my time and I’ll get to spend some time with teammates, with friends, just having good meals with them. So that’s kind of my main priority right now. Just to finish out my quarter with a little bang and start out my summer.”
It’s that type of nose-to-the-grindstone mentality that has turned Zhang into one of the best golfers (male or female) in the world. These Stanford computer science problem sets won’t be easy but if she can take down 119 professional golfers in her first LPGA tournament, we’re certainly giving her a fighting chance.