How U.S. Women’s Open favorite Rose Zhang manages massive expectations at age 20

The weight of the golfing world is on Rose Zhang’s shoulders at Pebble Beach this week, just more than a month after the Stanford University sophomore sensation turned professional.

The U.S. Women’s Open and its record $2 million first-place purse are Zhang’s to win.

The 20-year-old is the favorite with 8-to-1 odds, according to Caesars Sportsbook, while the next-closest competitor is the top-ranked women’s golfer in the world, Jin Young Ko, with 12-to-1 odds.

“I would have never expected myself to be in this position,” Zhang told reporters on Tuesday.

She will tee off while holding the women’s course record of a nine-under 63, which she shot in September while she was becoming the most decorated amateur golfer ever.

Zhang’s expectations for herself?

“Just try to hit the ball,” she said. “Like, just get it up in the air, hit it in the fairway, on the green, and do your own thing.”

Zhang said she just wants to make the cut, which is like Steph Curry saying he’s just hoping to make the Warriors’ starting lineup.

“It almost feels like it’s disingenuous when she says it,” said Zhang’s agent, Kevin Hopkins. “But that’s genuinely how she feels and how she attacks it.”

It’s Zhang’s humility that has allowed her to keep up with the speed at which she went from being a 14-year-old prodigy in Southern California, to the most decorated women’s college golfer of all time, to drawing comparisons to Tiger Woods after breaking his Stanford record of 11 tournament wins, to winning her first tournament as a professional in June.

She’s still enrolled at Stanford to continue pursuing her degree in communications. She’s still living in Palo Alto. And she’s still seen as a goofball to the golfers at Stanford who played practice rounds with her at Pebble Beach this week.

“Rose is a great example of someone who doesn’t let expectations get in her head,” said Stanford junior Sadie Englemann, who will compete against her in the Open. “She barely pays attention to it.”

Zhang’s swing coach, George Pinnell, said Zhang’s ability to ignore the expectations has long been part of her strategy to stay centered.

A few years ago, he was introducing her to a representative at Callaway, now one of her sponsors.

“I said ‘Watch this, I’ll really get her attention,’” Pinnell said. “She’s hitting some balls maybe 10 feet away from us, and she can hear what I’m saying. I started telling him something and she knew I was going to say something good. She stopped her swing, turned around and pointed her finger at me and said, ‘Stop, George, don’t even go there.’ She’s so dang humble.”

Her humility and playfulness with other golfers have kept the prodigy from being disliked by her peers.

Wake Forest senior Rachel Kuehn, one of the top amateurs in the country, said Zhang is “a nicer person than she is a good golfer, which is hard to do. Everyone who knows her pulls for her.”

During her two years at Stanford, Zhang dealt with expectations by living the life of a college student and learning how to have a golf-life balance.

“I’ve put a lot of things into perspective about taking care of myself and being in it for the longevity of this game,” Zhang said on the No Laying Up podcast in March. “I was very much living in the moment but putting so much emphasis into every single moment I’ve been living. That gets to you quite a bit. I’ve realized there has to be a way to try to live on a daily basis without having to be so hardcore.”

Former prodigy Michelle Wie West, competing in her final professional tournament this week before she steps away from golf, dealt with similar pressure when she was a 15-year-old attempting to compete on the men’s PGA Tour.

Asked about mentoring Zhang, Wie West said, “We all know she doesn’t need any mentors. She’s got it. She’s incredibly poised and has that inner confidence, that silent confidence in her that is just so incredible.”

Zhang’s success has scored her multiple big-name sponsorships, including with Calloway and Adidas, who made her their first-ever collegiate ambassador while she was at Stanford and have continued their partnerships into her professional career.

“We know she has amazing potential,” said Tim McNulty, global director of sports marketing for Adidas Golf.

And since Zhang turned pro in June, the LPGA has noticed an uptick in interest.

“The event she won – the Mizuho Americas Open – was our most watched final round of the 2023 season, outside of our major championships,” said Matt Chmura, an LPGA executive.

At Pebble Beach this week, NBC will broadcast a record 12 hours of weekend round coverage, including live primetime coverage. Expect Zhang to be at center stage.