Rose Zhang; The First Golfer to Win Back-to-Back NCAA Championships
Rose Zhang; The First Golfer to Win Back-to-Back NCAA Championships
In amateur golf, Rose Zhang won everything. The Stanford sophomore has already accomplished something no one else has, not even Lorena Ochoa. She has won back-to-back national championships thanks to an unblemished performance at the NCAA Championships.
Zhang tied the NCAA record for victories in a season with a 4-under 68 on Monday, becoming the first woman to win consecutive national championships.
“I was really fortunate to play at the same time as Lorena Ochoa and I felt her greatness was unmatched.”
“Rose Zhang really reminds me a lot of Lorena.”
Stanford coach Anne Walker
Zhang has an extensive amateur history and will turn 20 on Wednesday. In 2020, 2021, and last month, she won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. She also won the U.S. Women’s Amateur in the previous year.
After starting four strokes behind, Zhang gained distance and was ahead by one when Lucia Lopez-Ortega of San Jose State hit back-to-back bogeys. Zhang used a deft shot to save par on the par-4 17th hole at Gray Hawk Golf Club and punched in for par on hole No. 18.
Zhang tied Ochoa’s records for victories in a season (eight) and career (12) at the NCAA with a final score of 10-under 278 over 72 holes. Her 12 wins surpass the men’s or women’s record for Stanford held by Tiger Woods and three other athletes.
A Stanford player won the individual NCAA championship for the third consecutive year. Currently sidelined due to injury, Rachel Heck took first place in 2021. In its attempt to win back-to-back national titles, Stanford assisted Zhang in securing the top seed going into match play on Tuesday.
“When you’re chasing from behind, you really don’t know what is happening until everything’s completed.”
“To come off of 18 and everyone saying you just won, that’s something that I wouldn’t really have imagined starting out the day.”
Rose Zhang
With a birdie to end her round, Lopez-Ortega finished with a score of 71. She and Southern Californian Catherine Park, who missed a short birdie putt on the par-5 18th that would have matched her with Zhang, tied for second at 9 under.
Zhang broke the NCAA’s freshman single-season scoring record and won individual and team titles while posting the record-breaking 69.68 mark. She comes to the desert with a 68.70 scoring average and has been much better this season.
The Pac-12 Championships and the NCAA Pullman Regional were among Zhang’s ten starts this season, where she has won eight times.
By finishing the front nine at Gray Hawk‘s Raptor Course in 3-under 33, Zhang swiftly closed the four-shot gap to Park, the overnight leader. Zhang reached 10 under with a birdie on the par-5 11th, but Lopez-Ortega caught up to her after beginning on the front nine with a birdie on the par-3 fifth.
Zhang had the advantage when Lopez-Ortega had back-to-back bogeys.
She had 195 yards to the hole after a strong drive on the par-5 18th. Even though there was water to her right, Zhang still intended to take a second shot for the green, reasoning that, at the very least, she would hit the greenside bunker.
As soon as that happened, Walker intervened and advised her to rest. She successfully made a two-putt for the win.
“She was like, ‘No, no, you have a one-shot lead.'”
“Then I thought, ‘Oh wait, maybe I should reconsider everything that just happened.'”
Rose Zhang
As the season went on, Park improved, finishing third at the Pac-12 Championships and second at the Silverado Showdown. She tied the NCAA record with a 64 in the second round at Gray Hawk and followed that up with a 71 on Sunday to take a two-shot lead into the final round.
In the final round of the individual competition, Park recorded a two-putt birdie on the par-5 seventh after sandwiching two birdies around a bogey on the short par-4 sixth hole. On the par-3 ninth, where a fast-moving chip struck the flagstick, she made a bogey but still managed to preserve par.
Zhang made a birdie at No. 11, cutting Park’s lead to two with a curling putt on the par-4 12th, but she fell behind by a stroke after making a three-putt down a steep slope on the par-4 15th.
From just outside the 18th hole, Park made a solid chip shot, but he mishit the birdie putt.
“It was a roller coaster, a lot of emotions going on.”
“I didn’t want to overthink it, but I was a little anxious.”
Catherine Park
