Connor Federico
Hello friends, and welcome to this week’s Rogers Report! I finished a few days after covering the Miuzho Americas Open at the Liberty National and really had the time of my life. I’ve spent a lot of time at the Liberty for various events over the past few years working in golf, and the vibes have always been great.
Getting to the Liberty National for a golf tournament is easy and fun. You hop on the ferry from Brookfield Place in lower Manhattan, and after about 18 minutes you’re standing in front of the Cycle Club. On Wednesday I had the honor of taking the 7am ferry to the track with Angel Yin, and catching the 5:00pm ferry with Rose Zhang. Those outings were the perfect day-ends at Michelle Wie West’s event.
the range
Like most events I attend, my favorite venue at the Liberty National is the clubhouse. The band, media center, and green practice are all linked, which made my job very easy.
The first thing I noticed upon my arrival was the energy. There was the sound of music, the NBA Cup was resting nearby, and junior golfers couldn’t be more excited to play it alongside the pros. It wasn’t long before some familiar faces appeared.
First came junior golf star Gianna Clemente. I showed my colleague Zephyr Milton the Gen Z method for taking a selfie (on the 0.5 mode with the rear camera, for those interested), and she was on her way. A few feet away, Mega Gun was taking her clubs from her college bag and putting them in her staff bag for the first time. On the other side of us, Rose Chang was packing her TrackMan.
I lovable How much personality has been shown by almost everyone on the band; It’s the kind of energy we hope the guys show in their press conferences. Before Zhang and I hopped on the ferry together on Wednesday, I hung up golf The crew stands up for her be realistic. Generation Z plays a huge role in the field at the Mizuho Americas Open this week, and the difference isn’t just on the track.
Study with little ones
Perhaps the most mediocre 10 minutes of the year so far came Wednesday morning, when I got a lesson from an incoming University of Virginia student named Jacqueline Laha. It is currently at No. 24 in the AJGA Rolex Rankings and has been given the almost impossible task of making me a better putter. We have worked on downhill tweezers. The only putt I hit ended up closer to the hole than any of the five I hit. My co-worker, James Colgan, took a driver’s lesson from 16-year-old Ryan Maliksi, and it’s safe to say he left the lesson feeling as humble as I did. If you saw James smoking his lead this summer, you know who to thank.
Michelle like West!
Grand champion Michelle Wei-West is hosting the Mizuho Americas Open this week, though you might not know it by how comfortable she is. Wie West was very generous with its time. Between setting up a clinic for the children who had come to see the event, greeting all her players and fulfilling all her host duties, she made sure to chat to everyone she saw to thank us for coming.
Ferry ride with Angel Yin
I had never met 24-year-old Angel Yin before this week, but my co-workers arranged for me to catch her on the ferry to Liberty National on Wednesday. Despite hearing amazing things about yin from my co-worker, Zephyr, I was still a little nervous. We’d meet at 6:30 in the morning outside her hotel. Will she be ready to chat that early? The ferry wasn’t until 7, and it would take 30 minutes or so to get from Brookfield Place to the training ground at Liberty National. Will I be able to keep the conversation for a long time?
My anxiety vanished within 15 seconds of meeting the angel. We talked about New York City, how she loves working out late in the day because she has the course to herself and her love (read: frontier obsession) with musicals. Check out our how-to (and more!) in the video below.
Ice cream with rose chang
Last but not least, I had the honor of chatting with Rose Zhang over some ice cream on Wednesday night when she joined me on an episode of The Scoop.
I was immediately amazed at how natural Chang, despite having won two NCAA titles, 12 events at Stanford and the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Chang ordered mint chocolate chip ice cream for the interview, which she quickly promised was doable. Luckily, Liberty National stocked them in their kitchen, which I didn’t know until now after I promised her flavor.
Even before the interview started, Zhang was very talkative. She was sporting a red Sharpie to mark her golf ball and was carrying a huge box of fresh Adidas swag. I told her one of my co-workers would be more Than to be happy to carry her things – the second premature promise of the day. (Thanks to Zephyr for stepping it up.)
While we were on our way to the ferry, be realistic Gone. For those of you who don’t know, this is an app that goes off at a random time every day, and you take a picture and then a selfie to show your friends what you’re up to. Zhang told golf a team.
I don’t have a copy of it, but I ended up taking one, too.
I have been very fortunate to have wonderful guests at The Scoop, and Zhang was no exception. I kept forgetting that I was talking to a 20-year-old giving an insight into her life and golf. You can watch the full video below. I hope you enjoy!