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Check out each week the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in sports, and join the conversation by tweeting to us @employee. This week we discuss Rose Zhang’s foray into the world of professional golf, Rory McIlroy’s Sluggish Sunday and more.
Rose Zhang, at just 20, beat Jennifer Kupcho in a playoff to win the Mizuho US Open, making her the first player to win on her professional debut on the LPGA Tour since Beverly Hanson in 1951. She turned pro this week and a lot has been accomplished. About her first professional start, but still, did we expect it?
Jack Hirsch, assistant editor (@employee): My goodness, it’s hard to balance the hype she came up with with the realization that guys don’t play this well in their professional debuts. Rose Zhang clearly proved to be completely different. On broadcasts, her career has been compared to that of Tiger Woods. Neither had played well in professional events before turning pro. But even Tiger took two events (exactly two) before starting to compete and win in his fifth. Now, it’s always hard to compare Borders to Tiger Woods, but Rose actually broke his Stanford winning record and now wins faster on the pro level than he did. I certainly didn’t expect this, but at the same time, we didn’t have to be surprised.
On a side note, did we see someone become anonymous faster?
James Colgan, news and features editor (Lord, save her): Oh man, I sure didn’t. Rose entered the week as one of the most exciting young talents to enter the women’s golf scene in quite a while. Now, seven days later, she’s one of the hottest talents to get into golf a long time ago. What an epic week.
Claire Rogers, Social Media Director (@employee): Rose Zhang didn’t seem like the new kid on the block when I spent a few days at Liberty National earlier this week. Young golfers wanted to stay with her, and so did the pros. She had a lot of media to do, and she handled it all with honor. I expected she would make the cut. You might finish 25th if you have a great week. But to win her professional debut after a long college season? amazing. This was the most fun I’ve had watching a golf tournament in a long time.
What in Zhang’s match allowed her to win the first women’s tour? And how close is she to becoming the best player in the women’s game? What is its ceiling?
Hersh: She won in somewhat similar fashion to how she had won three months earlier at the Augusta National Women Amateur when she left a huge lead but appeared in a playoff. I did the same thing, albeit with a small margin to start. Not only did her second putt on the second playoff hole prove she knows how to win, but I was even more impressed with her par putt on the first playoff hole. It was the same line that you missed in regulation, but remember how it fell apart, you also have to remember that you missed it, which is not the greatest thought process. However, she handled it expertly. There is a difference between playing golf well and then actually winning, but Rose Zhang clearly knows how to win.
Colgan: As with most of the greats, it was composure that won her the championship on Sunday. Rose has all the pieces of greatness (her last six holes on Sunday more Proof of it), but it’ll be even a keel that carries her there. It was remarkable how unfazed she seemed by the whole scene, especially as I clung to the edge of my seat. Do you think she has it all at just the age of 20? amazing. Just awesome.
Rogerskisa: I thought it was her patience. The sparrows weren’t flocking for Chang on Sunday – they didn’t make one all day. But she kept at it and made a really steady pars so she could get her to move on the second playoff hole. I don’t think she’s “close” to becoming a standout player in the women’s game, I think she really is. No other golfer at Stanford (male or female) has won as many times as Zhang. She really made history at Augusta National. She has already done incredible things and now continues to do so on a professional level. There is no cap for Zhang, and her NCAA career has proven it.
The aforementioned event, the inaugural Mizuho US Open, was hosted by Michelle Wie West and featured 120 LPGA players along with 24 top junior golfers on the American Junior Golf Association Tour. What do you think of this format? Do you see it as a long-term success?
Hersh: Rose said on Golf Central this evening that having the juniors was actually “pivotal” to her win because she was more comfortable around a lot of the girls she knew, like Anna Davis. As someone who has competed in the First Tee Open junior pro tournament on the Champions Tour, these events are great experiences for juniors. You have to accept that the gameplay speed will be slower because of the quad. I prefer a more typical professional format rather than juniors simply playing their courses. This way you won’t have to use the Stableford format and the rookies can simply pick up when the pros are likely to beat them. I also think this will help make the format easier to understand for viewers at home. Now that the LPGA has a pro-junior event, I think the next step is for the PGA Tour to create an event as well.
Colgan: The format could use a little work – especially in terms of getting around the little ones to get the pace going on a Sunday afternoon. But the tournament was a wild success. One of the biggest hurdles for the LPGA is corporate support. to earn this To sponsor Mizuho’s title in the first year of a pioneering new event? This is an incredible break.
Rogers: I think the fact that Rose Zhang ended up playing with a little girl she was dealing with before allowed the formula to work on Sunday. The fact that a couple of weeks ago, these two would have been playing side by side in an amateur event made it seem somewhat normal. I definitely loved having the little ones around, but I don’t think the format was explained very well in the broadcast. It’s definitely a fun format to keep going, but it might need a bit of a realignment.
Rory McIlroy took a share of a 54-hole lead at the Monument, but bogged down a final round 75 and finished four shots out of a playoff (as Victor Hovland beat Denny McCarthy). Based on his recent results, including a missed cut at the Masters earlier this year, are you more surprised by this lackluster day or concerned?
Hersh: McIlroy surprisingly said he feels nicer to his game and better than it after the Final 69 in Oak Hill. He had a markedly different tone this week than he did in the PGA, which shows me he’s getting close to the level that helped him win three times last year. However, he is entering his toughest stretch of the season as he will be playing four straight weeks, including the US Open in two weeks. All he really cares about at the moment is ending his massive drought, so if the way he’s played this week leads to him peaking in LA, he’s on the right track. I’m not really surprised or concerned about the 75, which was the field average on Sunday.
Colgan: I’m not surprised. His game is not complete yet. But definitely frustrating. Sunday was a great opportunity to get the kind of win that could get a patchy season back on track. Rory missed that opportunity. However, the arrow is pointed in the right direction for the LACC, provided it can figure out its irons.
RogersMcElroy: I think that was a very positive step in the right direction. I’m not afraid he didn’t get it done today. I decide to “trust the process” when it comes to all things Rory McIlroy.
In one of the more bizarre stories we’ve heard in quite some time, five-time PGA Tour winner J.B. Holmes was involved in a big-money scramble but entered under the name John Bradley—his first and middle names, rarely known in pro golf—and his team eventually had He was given the DQ of the Calcutta section of the event once the organizers found out exactly who he was. Some people thought this was funny; Others were deeply offended. Where did you land?
Hersh: I don’t have enough money to play for Calcutta, so I’m not quite sure how that works. That said, it seems he has pushed people not to bet on his team. But on the other hand, Holmes says he didn’t field himself and didn’t technically break any rules for the event because he was the only player who would be an extra handicap on his team. I thought it was a very funny story and it’s also a classic example of a lot of money ruining a good time on the golf course.
Colgan: Well, if I paid a ton of money to participate in an event and one of the winners turned out to be on the PGA Tour, I’d probably be a little more upset about it.
Rogers: I didn’t care much for this story, but there is a mind game I play when I’m bored called “Which golfers can (and can’t) go to the mall without being recognized?” While people who will definitely be recognised, like Tiger and Rory, certainly have a lot of advantages, Holmes proves to be on last Aspect comes with some perks too, like flying under the radar in a scramble event. Do I think it’s funny? no. Am I upset about that? Also no!
GOLF has released its first-ever ranking of the top 100 golf courses in Asia Pacific, highlighting must-play destinations outside of North America and Europe. Which course on this list would you like to check off your bucket list, and why?
Hersh: I’ve never attended East of Scotland golf clubs so all of these courses are new to me. Royal Melbourne obviously sounds crazy, but I would go as far as possible and say Tara Etty. It is certainly a more modern golf course design but has everything you could want. The dunes, the ocean views, the mountainous views of the island in the distance, the air conditioning that promotes ground game, etc. Plus I played this one in the video game and she’s sick.
Colgan: My number one bucket list destination world Now Vietnam. Send me there for two weeks and give me five hours to stop eating long enough to play a round of golf. It doesn’t matter where, but Hoiana Shores looks nice.
Rogers: I only played golf in the United States. In fact, I think all of my golf has been played in eight states, so I’d like to check any off my golf list. One of the most prominent ones is definitely Tara Itty. I’ve seen some bridges from there and it looks amazing. I would go so far as to say it was worth the 24 hour trip from Boston to New Zealand!