Rose Zhang made Upper Montclair Country Club look easy as the young phenom posted the worst performance of his career on the first day of the Cognizant Founders Cup. He shot a 9-under 63 with no bogeys and took the lead by two strokes.
The score tied the tournament record and broke Chang’s lowest round of his LPGA career after his 65 at the Maybank Championship last October.
“It was a really exciting moment for me to be able to do that,” Zhang said. “Honestly, it’s really fun. It rekindles my passion to try to improve and play better.”
The competition was fierce, with Madeleine Sagstrom setting a high bar with a 7-under 65 in the morning wave. Still, Zhang outplayed her with six holes left, showing off her red-hot putter.
She made nine birdies in the round and felt like she finally had some momentum.
“It was almost auto-command golf,” Chan said. “I’ve been feeling a little tough the last few weeks. I’ve been struggling with my golf swing, but I’ve gained confidence in my preparation. Going into this week, I let everything go. It’s been great to let myself go. I did it. It was nice to see some shots go in, especially on the green.”
This golf course is no slouch, and Mr. Zhang knows it. However, she hit 11 of 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens. Her approach play caught fire. Making just 25 putts in the round was impressive for the 20-year-old.
Zhang’s second season has been rocky, but things are gradually improving. She has finished in the top seven twice this season, but she has missed the cut in two of her last four starts.
Sure, Chan snuck into T5 at the T-Mobile Match Play event at Shadow Creek, but the rising star remained silent. Her graduation from Stanford University took her away from the course, but now that her school is over, the course has begun.
“This is pretty big because I know I’m going to get this number for me,” she said. “If you can dial in and do what you need to do, the phone number is there. You can play your game. As long as you have that little bit of confidence, no matter what happens over the next few days, the effort is going to be there.” I know I’m going to figure something out along the way.”
She is scheduled to play alongside Megan Kang and Lydia Ko on Friday at 8:10 a.m. as Zhang looks to keep up the pace and win her second LPGA title.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.If you want to know more about golf, please follow us. @_PlayingThrough On all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirls and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
