CORRECTS DAY AND DATE – Rose Zhang responds to a question during a news conference before the U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament at the Pebble Beach Golf Links, Tuesday, July 4, 2023, in Pebble Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Rose Zhang set the women’s course record at Pebble Beach and hardly anyone noticed outside of her local caddie, Stanford teammates, and college golf enthusiasts.
Ten months later, she walked toward the 17th green at Pebble Beach with three amateurs in the U.S. Women’s Open and heads turned to look.
And not just any heads.
To her left were some three dozen U.S. Women’s Open champions who had posed for a group photo, several of them in the World Golf Hall of Fame. Had it been anyone else, laughs and chatter might have continued. Zhang made them at least glance her way.
That’s what the 20-year-old Zhang brings to this historic Women’s Open (beginning Thursday), and perhaps to the LPGA Tour. She is two tournaments into her professional career, now facing the strongest test in women’s golf, and she already is talked about as much as anyone at Pebble Beach.
Michelle Wie West was in that group. She has become close to Zhang to the point someone suggested the former prodigy had become Zhang’s mentor.
“She doesn’t need any mentors. She’s got it,” Wie West said. “She’s incredibly poised and has that inner confidence, that inner silent confidence in her that is just so incredible, and she is a real competitor. I’m super excited for all the things that she’s already accomplished in her few weeks as pro, and very excited to see what’s in the future for her.”
Wie West knows what it’s like to walk into a room, or walk across the putting green, and have everyone notice. She was 14 when she shot 68 in the Sony Open and missed the cut by one shot. She contended for LPGA majors before she was old enough to drive. There was an element of jealousy from the corporate deals and…
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