Rose Zhang first picked up a golf club when she was 9 years old. She was playing with her dad in their backyard in Irvine, California, and he handed her a putter from a standard adult men\u2019s golfing set. \u201cI think that thing weighed and was longer than me at the time,\u201d Zhang says, calling in on Zoom from the Red Bull Athlete Performance Center in Santa Monica. \u201cI could still get the ball up in the air, and that\u2019s the first goal you want to have in the sport.\u201d She had a knack for hitting the bottle caps he set out for her, so they soon made the trip to Roger Dunn Golf Shop to buy a set of kids’ clubs she could practice with.<\/p>\n
Thirteen years later, it\u2019s safe to say that purchase paid off in spades. Zhang spent three years as the No. 1 women\u2019s amateur golf player in the world, starting in 2020. She\u2019s since won her professional debut while working toward her communications degree at Stanford (where she was also on the golf team during her freshman and sophomore seasons). She\u2019ll graduate this spring<\/a>, a \u201clifelong goal\u201d that the 22-year-old has fought hard to achieve while balancing her dedication to her sport. \u201cIt\u2019s a very contested opinion to be able to do those things simultaneously, and I\u2019m really excited to see light at the end of the tunnel,\u201d Zhang says.<\/p>\n A lot of naysayers would be like, \u2018If she goes to college, her career as a golfer is just gone.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Though the Red Bull sponsored athlete is an undeniable powerhouse, she\u2019s never seen herself as being better than her competition. \u201cI just go after it, and regardless of the results, I think about trying to get better,\u201d Zhang says. At first, practicing her golf swing in the backyard, she started by setting tiny goals for herself. \u201cI was like, \u2018Wow, I want to try to make the golf ball fly higher,\u2019 and I gave myself challenges to do that.\u201d Within a few months of getting those kids clubs, she was competing in (and winning) local tournaments in Southern California, and she moved up to the 12 to 14 age division at age 11. <\/p>\n \u201cI had a very gradual progression,\u201d Zhang says. \u201cI didn\u2019t even think about college or anything of that sort.\u201d She credits her parents with teaching her the discipline to improve on her own accord. \u201cThey had me compartmentalize the way that I did things, so they never compared me to other players, as crazy as that sounds.\u201d<\/p>\n Red Bull Content Pool<\/p>\n When her amateur career took off near the end of high school, Zhang began to see potential for golf to become a legitimate profession. She won the U.S. Women\u2019s Amateur for the first time in 2020, after competing with a wrist injury. \u201cMy coaches were not happy with me when I decided to play that event. Then I turned out and won the whole thing,\u201d she says. \u201cI definitely got a lot of confidence in my game to continue playing.\u201d That victory kicked off her record-breaking streak as world No. 1<\/a>, a title she held until going pro in 2023. \u201cIt\u2019s honestly pretty crazy,\u201d Zhang says of that accomplishment. \u201cIf you told me that when I just started playing, it would not be a forefront thought.\u201d<\/p>\n After reaching the top rungs of amateur golf, Zhang could have easily transitioned into playing professionally full time. Instead, she decided to go to college \u2014 a decision that ruffled feathers among some folks in her orbit. \u201cThe younger you are, the more opportunity you have, and the more lifespan you have as an athlete,\u201d she says. \u201cA lot of naysayers would be like, \u2018If she goes to college, her career as a golfer is just gone.\u2019 There was a bit of feeling like \u2018I want to prove you wrong.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n That was the main aha moment of realizing I was going to turn pro and still come back to school.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n True to her word, Zhang dominated college golf during her freshman and sophomore years, becoming the first woman to win the NCAA Division I Women\u2019s Golf Championship twice. She felt ready for the pro level, but she was mindful of the risks \u2014 including the finances involved with playing a sport that doesn\u2019t get much national media attention. \u201cThe LPGA is a great platform, but it hasn\u2019t really lifted off as well as women\u2019s tennis, for example,\u201d she says. \u201cSo if you\u2019re outside of the top 50, you\u2019re paying out of pocket for everything.\u201d Zhang also didn\u2019t want to drop out of school and give up the learning opportunities she had access to at Stanford.<\/p>\n So she called up Michelle Wie West, a fellow women\u2019s golfer who played professionally while getting a Stanford education. \u201cShe was like, \u2018I played professionally and finished my degree. I don\u2019t see why you can\u2019t,\u2019\u201d Zhang says of their conversation. \u201cThat was the main aha moment of realizing I was going to turn pro and still come back to school.\u201d She made the switch and went on to win her pro debut at the Mizuho Americas Open in 2023, becoming the first player in 72 years to do so<\/a>.<\/p>\n Johnnie Izquierdo\/Getty Images Sport\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Zhang will finish her Stanford communications degree in just one extra year, after alternating her semesters with the golf season to accommodate both things at once. She admits it\u2019s been a challenge at times. \u201cI think the body and the mind need a little bit of a reset, which did not really happen for me. That overwhelmingness is much more difficult than you can really let on,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n To balance her hectic life, she relies on building in time for herself to journal, read, and relax. \u201cIf you don\u2019t allot a little bit of quiet time in your day, you\u2019re going to burn out so much quicker. I almost think of that quiet time as training,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen you don\u2019t have that period, you don\u2019t really reset, and it\u2019s easy to get blinded by everything that you\u2019re doing.\u201d Her best advice for younger athletes is to be intentional about their self-care practices, schedule, and support system. \u201cI encourage you to have fun with living your life, but be aware of what you\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Once she takes a breather postgraduation, Zhang has her eye on more professional titles in 2026. She played the Grant Thornton Invitational in Naples, Florida, in December and is set to play the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in Orlando from Jan. 29 to Feb. 1. Zhang also has plans to be more active on social media, sharing her life with her Instagram followers<\/a>. \u201cMy goal is not to in any way do anything self-glorifying,\u201d she says. \u201cI just want to be a little bit more relatable for anyone who\u2019s willing to listen or willing to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n