Rose Chan will make her Chevron Championship debut this week as she celebrates her one-year anniversary on the LPGA Tour.
She started 2024 on the full course at Stanford University and competed in multiple LPGA Tour events. Her loss in the quarterfinals at the T-Mobile LPGA Match Play event two weeks ago marked her best finish of the year, a T5.
She is now aiming for her first major title. However, if she wins, Zhang will be forced to make a difficult decision.
Traditionally, the winner of this event jumps into the lake next to the 18th green.
Before the Chevron Championship, Chan couldn’t decide whether to keep tradition or not.
“I was talking to my caddy about it. I’ve played ANA and ANA Junior Inspiration before. The pool looks a little nicer than here,” Chan said. “I saw the bulletin board. At that point, if you’re a major champion, why wouldn’t you do it? Just jump in. Yeah, I don’t think I’d do it myself,” Chan said jokingly.
Last year, Lilia Vu continued the tradition by jumping into the lake after winning her first major.
Last year, Zhang won his LPGA debut at the Mizuho Americas Open and took the world by storm. Chan is no stranger to making history, as he capped off his amateur career by winning back-to-back NCAA individual titles.
With his first win, the former Stanford Cardinal has qualified for four of the five majors in 2023. She finished in the top 10 three times, finishing ninth at the U.S. Women’s Open and eighth at the KPMG Women’s PGA at the Amundi Evian Championship.
If Zhang comes out on top on Sunday, it will likely be a hasty decision to decide whether she will uphold tradition.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough On all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirls and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
