Zhang has a new instructor ahead of the first women’s major of 2024.
THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Rose Zhang told Golfweek that she has a new instructor ahead of the 2024 Chevron Championship.
Todd Anderson, director of instruction at the PGA Tour’s Performance Center at TPC Sawgrass, has stepped in to help one of the LPGA’s hottest young stars.
George Pinnell has guided Zhang for the better part of a decade, and the pair knew this day would eventually come once she got out on tour. Pinnell runs a successful academy in Rowland Heights, California, and that responsibility along with some health issues keeps him from being able to travel as much as Zhang might need.
“George is probably going to Wilshire next week,” said Zhang of the tour’s next stop. “We’re still so close. He’ll be a mentor. He’s seen my swing for the past nine years.”
Zhang’s best friend from high school, Nicole Zhang, recently joined Pinnell’s coaching staff.
Billy Horschel jokes with golf instructor Todd Anderson on the practice range ahead of the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. (Photo: Katie Goodale-USA TODAY Network)
Rose said Anderson came recommended by her team and the pair met for the first time at TPC Sawgrass earlier in the year. Anderson also attended Capitol One’s The Match. They’ve mostly worked on short game and putting so far and are still getting a feel for each other. Anderson also works with Billy Horschel, whom Zhang met during her initial visit.
“He’s is very straightforward, which I appreciate,” said Zhang of Anderson. “He has a very genuine passion for helping players get better. And he’s very open-minded, so he’s not exactly very egocentric and is willing to hear what you feel and what your thoughts are. So that open mindedness helps a lot. Because, for me, I think it’s important for the player to understand what he or she is doing. And the coach aids to that.”
Zhang has two top-10 finishes in four LPGA starts and recently wrapped up her winter quarter at Stanford. She’s currently taking a break from classes.
“I think every one of them thinks they have a chance.”
EVANS, Ga. — At this time last year, it was Rose Zhang celebration week at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Virginia’s Amanda Sambach wasn’t sure whether she should say this part out loud, but with Zhang in the field, it felt a bit like everyone was playing for second.
“This year,” said Sambach, the 2023 ACC champ, “I think there’s a lot up for grabs.”
Now in its fifth edition, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur boasts a major winner among its past champions in Jennifer Kupcho along with Zhang, who became the first player since Beverly Hanson in 1951 to win on the LPGA in her first professional start at the Mizuho Americas Open. Anna Davis, the super chill Auburn freshman who won this event as a 16-year-old two years ago, is the only former champion in the field.
This year’s seasoned field of 72 includes seven players who finished in the top 10 in 2024.
“I think every one of them thinks they have a chance,” said Florida State head coach Amy Bond, “and that it’s a wide open field. There’s no pure favorite.”
Forty-three players have competed previously in the ANWA, including Emilia Migliaccio, the only one to receive an invitation to all five events. Migliaccio, who lost in a playoff here in 2021, finished up her time at Wake Forest last spring with an NCAA team title.
After deciding to forgo professional golf, she has been trying to fit in a little practice in between her television work. The now married 24-year-old worked three tournaments in a row in the beginning of March – the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate for Golf Channel and the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship for PGA Tour Live.
“When I work in studio, there is a golf course that’s right by the hotel,” said Migliaccio, “so we get like an hour break so I’ll hit for 20 minutes in my first break and my second break, I’ll putt for 30. That’s how I’ve been practicing on the road.
“Obviously not a whole lot of time. I feel like I am getting creative on keeping my practice efficient, and then the last week and a half before ANWA I spent every day on the golf course, six seven hours playing a ton because haven’t had a lot of opportunities to play.”
The format for this year’s event remains the same, with the first two days held on Champions Retreat Golf Club on the Island and Bluffs nines. Many players actually consider Champions Retreat a tougher test than Augusta National.
The field will be cut to the top 30 and ties after Thursday’s round. Then the entire field will head to Augusta National for a practice round. This marks the first year the field will have a chance to play the Par 3 Course.
With thunderstorms forecasted for Wednesday morning, tee times might be pushed back for the opening round.
“I think this course plays different every year that I’ve come back,” said Rachel Kuehn, who is making her fourth appearance. Kuehn said she has never seen greens roll as perfectly as they do at Champions Retreat.
Asterisk Talley, 15, is the youngest player in the field, having celebrated a birthday on Feb. 15. Migliaccio, who turns 25 on April 24, is the oldest.
LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad chipped in for eagle on the par-5 eighth at Augusta National last year and birdied the ninth to finish up her Friday practice round. She then told her playing competitor that it would be her last round there. She’d finished in the top three on two different occasions at the ANWA, and after the missing the cut in 2023, the LSU senior thought she’d head on to LPGA Q-School and turn professional.
The No. 1 amateur in the world, Lindblad comes into Augusta fresh off a 10-stroke victory at the Clemson Invitational where she shot 66-67-65. She’s now the winningest player in SEC history with 14 titles.
“The first day I think I had 14 birdie putts within 20 feet,” she said.
Englemann admits she’d be lying if she said the lack of attention never bothered her.
Sadie Englemann used to bring her iPad to class in high school to watch the pros play Amen Corner on Masters.com during class. The surefooted Texan knew from a young age that she wanted to one day compete at the highest level.
Folks who follow women’s amateur golf even a little bit know two of Englemann’s highly decorated teammates at Stanford – Rose Zhang and Rachel Heck. They might even know Megha Ganne, who dazzled at the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open when she played her way into the final group on Sunday as a high schooler.
But Englemann?
It’s tough to step out from the shadows cast by the greatest amateur player in the modern game (Zhang), and the hotshot golfer who will graduate as a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force (Heck).
Englemann admits she’d be lying if she said the lack of attention never bothered her. A top-10 finish at a tournament barely gets a mention when her teammates are winning every week.
“But when it’s two of your best friends in the world,” said Englemann, “it’s hard to be jealous.”
Sadie Englemann (courtesy Stanford athletics)
Englemann, now in her senior year, came to the realization if she wanted that kind of spotlight, she’d have to raise her game.
Heading into her second Augusta National Women’s Amateur April 3-6, Englemann ranks 38th in the world and boasts back-to-back top-five finishes in her last two college starts. She’s the highest-ranked Cardinal of the four who qualified for the field. Heck, still plagued by a shoulder injury, is expected to play.
The two ANWA appearances will bookend Englemann’s career at Stanford. She missed the cut the first time around, but one gets the feeling her time is coming.
“Sadie absolutely loves golf,” said Stanford coach Anne Walker. “She eats, sleeps and breathes golf all day long. Because of that, she’s always wanting to get better. She’s obsessed about getting better.”
And her game since coming to Palo Alto, said Walker, is like night and day.
“I was a good player, and I had some success in my junior career,” said Englemann, “but I was also a hothead. Anyone would tell you that.”
Unable to control her emotions on the course, a bad stretch of holes would invariably balloon into a bad round. It’s not that she gave up on the round.
“I would try so hard to get back to even par,” she explained, “that I would blow up mentally.”
A more mature Englemann has learned how to stabilize herself, pointing to significant progress in recent months.
From a technical standpoint, Walker rerouted Englemann’s swing to help her play with a fade. Englemann came to Stanford hitting a draw that sometimes became uncontrollable.
While she doesn’t have a textbook swing, Walker notes, Englemann is comfortable with her own style and has learned much about her game. In 2022, Englemann helped the Cardinal win the team NCAA title.
“To play at the highest level,” said Walker, “you have to know yourself well.”
Englemann, who will graduate in June with a degree in science, technology and society, was starstruck at her first U.S. Women’s Open last summer at Pebble Beach. At the same time, the exposure gave her confirmation she could perform among the best in the world.
Zhang won her first LPGA start as a professional last spring after claiming both the ANWA and NCAA titles.
Englemann notes that Walker never gave Zhang special treatment at Stanford. She qualified for tournaments like everyone else.
When Walker talked to the media, Englemann continued, she never focused on one player. The chemistry felt among the Stanford players – with Zhang at the center – was strong, and it was real.
Zhang propelled everyone around her to get better.
“Freshman year Sadie would’ve gone (to ANWA) just overwhelmed by the stage and all the great players,” said Walker. “Almost feeling like she was an outsider looking in.
Zhang is one of five past winners of the Therese Hession Regional Challenge in the field this week.
Rose Zhang’s pre-tournament press conference at the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship got moved because of a final exam in her media psych class. Later that night, she had a 15-page paper due for a political science class.
“That class is a little bit more niche,” she explained, “so it requires more research and reading and integration of real-life context versus the context that we learned in class. So it’s a little bit more difficult there.
“But after these are done, I’ll be golden for the next couple days and going forward until I come back to winter quarter next year.
Just over a year ago, Zhang was at Palos Verdes Golf Club with her Stanford team for the Therese Hession Regional Challenge. The three-shot victory marked Zhang’s eighth title in 15 career collegiate starts. As a team, the Cardinal finished second that week without two of their starters.
This week marks the third time Palos Verdes has hosted an LPGA event. Zhang is one of five past winners of the Therese Hession Regional Challenge in the field this week, joined by World No. 1 Lilia Vu (2018), Andrea Lee (2019), Lindy Duncan (2012) and Carlota Ciganda (2011).
Fans look on as Rose Zhang and Rory McIlroy warm up on the range during Capital One’s The Match IX at The Park West Palm on February 26, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images for The Match)
Zhang teed it up in the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in January, where she tied for seventh, and flew back to Florida in February for Capital One’s The Match IX with Rory McIlroy, Max Homa and Lexi Thompson.
Zhang skipped the second LPGA event in Florida, the Drive On, won by Nelly Korda, as well as all three events in the Asian swing.
Even so, there wasn’t much downtime during Zhang’s extended offseason. Trying to find a balance between part-time student and full-time golf professional remains a priority for the 20-year-old.
Though Zhang hardly returns to the LPGA refreshed, she called her winter quarter back at Palos Verdes “fulfilling,” pointing toward time spent with her non-golf friends. The lack of sleep and academic grind, she said, has tested in her ways that golf can’t. She’s also recovering from a recent battle with the flu that left her bedridden.
“But we’re out here thriving,” she said smiling. “I think a lot of the stress has come on to me, especially this week, it’s finals week, everyone is dying back at Stanford as well. All my friends are just going through it.”
As for her golf game, Zhang admits that finding time to practice has been difficult. Trying to balance 20 units in 10 weeks with all the other obligations that come with sponsorships as well as a social life has cut into time spent on her game.
When asked whether she’d considered not going back to campus in the future, Zhang, who has a residence in Las Vegas, said it’s a possibility.
“I mean, I’m pretty excited to come back out here to be fair,” she said. “Actually, school stresses me out a little bit more than golf does.
“I have considered taking online classes while I’m here on tour, so that’s a to-be-determined plan. As of now, I’m taking the spring quarter off and then we’ll evaluate what I do in the fall.”
The 12-hole event will be live on TNT, truTV, HLN and streaming on Max starting at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Capital One’s The Match is back, and it’s unlike any version before.
For the first time, the live golf series event will feature mixed golf competition between Rory McIlroy, Max Homa, Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang on Monday, Feb. 26, at “The Park” in West Palm Beach, Florida, under the lights.
The format is mixed skins, with each hole being worth a specified amount for charity.
All four golfers will utilize the same tees for the four par-3 holes in the routing, while the remaining eight holes will use varying tee boxes and yardages for the men and women. The golfer raising the most funds through the skins format at the end of the event will be declared the winner.
The 12-hole event will be live on TNT, truTV, HLN and streaming on Max starting at 6:30 p.m. ET.
On Thursday, the four golfers held a press conference with media members to discuss The Match, playing golf under the lights and what they look forward to when playing mixed competitions. Here’s what they had to say:
Essentially, there will be five more cards awarded to Epson Tour players, rewarding full-season performance on the developmental tour. Meanwhile, fewer players will leave LPGA Q-Series with status. (Though more players will receive full cards at Q-Series than in previous years.)
But beyond those big changes, however, there are a number of smaller shifts in LPGA regulations that are worth noting. Several changes, in particular, will impact those without LPGA status who find the winner’s circle.
Check out some of Golfweek’s favorite items in the new Adidas x Malbon Golf collaboration: The Crosby Collection.
Malbon Golf has collaborated with Adidas to bring us “The Crosby Collection” just in time for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
The old Crosby Clambake is the second signature event of 2024, meaning it’s boasting its best-ever field. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, No. 2 Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are all set to tee it up Thursday morning.
Another change for ’24: The amateurs in the field will only play on Thursday and Friday.
To celebrate the long history of this event, Malbon and Adidas released a 25-item collection on Monday.
“With this collection, we wanted to pay tribute to the essence of golf and fashion by taking old silhouettes and modernizing them,” Malbon Golf co-founder Stephen Malbon said in a statement. “It was an honor to create a collection inspired by the legendary Bing Crosby. His iconic Crosby Clambake was a perfect celebration of the timeless connection between style, sport, and camaraderie that reflects our brand’s ethos.”
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For the first time in its history, “The Match” series will feature two of the biggest stars in the women’s game, Rose Zhang and Lexi Thompson. Joining them will be Rory McIlroy and Max Homa, with the event slated for Feb. 26 at The Park golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The made-for-TV event will be 12 holes, and the format will be skins. For a player to win a skin, they must win the hole outright. If two or more players tie for the best score on a hole, the skin carries over to the next hole.
All four players will use the same tee boxes on par 3s, while varying tee boxes will be used for the remaining holes. This match will benefit the First Tee program.
TNT’s broadcast team will include Charles Barley, Ernie Johnson, Trevor Immelman, Kathryn Tappen, Christina Kim, Paul Bissonnette and DJ Khaled.
The event will also be available to stream on Max.
“Just a little bit of adjustments here and there, which kind of I guess throws off your offseason schedule.”
ORLANDO, Fla. — Rose Zhang is back at Stanford. Well, technically she’s in Florida this week for the LPGA season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions – to the dismay of her professors.
Zhang stayed up past midnight Tuesday doing schoolwork, making that 7:30 a.m. pro-am a quick turnaround. She told the media Wednesday afternoon that she’s carrying a full course load with classes in journalism, political science and media psych.
A self-described people pleaser, the 20-year-old pro said she’s starting to learn the crucial life skill of saying no, which judging by the sound of her to-do list is becoming increasingly essential.
“Coming into this event it was a little bit of a hustle to kind of get things in order,” she said. “I have new clubs in the bag. I’m trying to figure out my putter situation. Health-wise been a lot happening, too. So just a little bit of adjustments here and there, which kind of I guess throws off your offseason schedule.
“I also moved, so I’ve been moving three different places. Moving from Irvine to Vegas, Vegas to Stanford. And I also finished week one of school. … It’s been fun.”
Rose Zhang holds up the trophy after winning the 2023 Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo: Adam Hunger/Associated Press)
Zhang won her first LPGA event as a professional, the Mizuho Americas Open, one week after clinching her second NCAA title. The victory qualified her for the TOC, which will be her only start this month. She’ll take off the spring Asian swing (four events) and return to action at the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship at Palos Verdes Golf Club. She plans to graduate with a degree in communications after five years at Stanford in 2026.
“Stanford has a requirement of 180 units,” she explained. “I finished around 90-ish units. I’m just going to keep doing the 20 units per winter quarter. Maybe take a couple online classes if I’m allowed to in other quarters.”
This week Zhang has all new Callaway clubs, including the Epic Forged Star irons. She’d played with Apex irons since age 13 and made the switch in an effort to gain more distance control.
“Even though I was hitting really well with the Apex irons, there were some cases where my ball was too hot coming off the face,” she said. “It’s been generating a couple different noises that I would probably not appreciate as much on the golf course.”
As for her health, Zhang said she began working with a nutritionist after she felt her body wasn’t processing food as well after the stress of global travel. She’d feel bloated after a plate of vegetables.
She cut out soy, gluten and dairy to clear out her system and will reintroduce those foods in time.
“These are not, in my opinion, like crazy health concerns,” she said. “It’s more so how am I able to optimize my performance in-season and traveling everywhere with the time differences and time zones, what would make me perform well.”
While Zhang calls her winter quarter at Stanford a simpler time, she’s constantly surrounded by overachievers and can’t help but find inspiration at every turn. Everyone she knows is grinding, and she feels the need to do the same, though she’s not a results-driven person.
“I’m not someone who wants a certain ranking by the end of the year,” she said, “or I want to win this event by the end of the year.”
The flashy carrots like qualifying for the Paris Olympics and Solheim Cup will take care of themselves, she figures. Besides, Zhang considers her time at Stanford an incredible opportunity rather than a detractor from her full-time job.
Michelle Wie West of the United States plays her shot from the 18th tee during the second round of the 78th U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links on July 07, 2023 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Few in the game can relate to the path Zhang has chosen better than Michelle Wie West, who began her career at Stanford while playing full-time on the LPGA, winning twice on tour while earning her degree in communications.
“I felt like I had a double persona, a double life,” said Wie West last summer at her final U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach. “I was one thing out here – I had to act way more maturely than I really was out here because I was playing with older women – and when I went to school, I was kind of my old goofy self.
“So it really helps, I think, to kind of separate it and treat this as work and then you go back, and that’s your life.”
Jeff Sagarin’s rating system is based on a mathematical formula that uses a player’s won-lost-tied record against other players when they play on the same course on the same day, and the stroke differential between those players, then links all players to one another based on common opponents. The ratings give an indication of who is playing well over the past 52 weeks.
Also, players must have played in at least 10 events to be ranked. Editor’s note: We’ve included the Rolex rankings for the sake of comparison.
