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SPRINGFIELD, NJ — Rose Zhang had all the tools when she decided, earlier this year, to leave Stanford and turn professional: a buttery swing, a deft touch, a strong mind and a work ethic.
But there was at least one asset she was missing: the can.
Aware of the coveted role, Zhang’s manager, Kevin Hopkins, suggested she connect with LPGA veteran Jason Gilroyed, who while holding the likes of Minjee Lee, Cristie Kerr and Anna Nordqvist has been a part of 26 LPGA wins, including four major titles.
Zhang and Gilroyed hit it off right away, needing one start together – last month’s Mizuho America’s Open, at Liberty National – for their first win.
“I know my own game,” Chang said Thursday after her inaugural under-70 round at the KPMG Women’s Championship at Baltusrol JC in Springfield, N.J. “But he also knows his stuff, and I’ve learned a lot about how to use yardage properly, while being really accurate on touchdowns, And he does a great job on all of those things.”
In her first major start as a pro, Zhang added that Gilroyed was a calming presence. “When I’m here at a major tournament, when there’s a lot of tension and there’s a lot of difficulty on the golf course ahead of us, I feel very comfortable with him,” she said. “We rate the shots.”
Cans…essential workers, right?
right…?!
any… Yes, most pros will tell you. But then there’s Celine Borg, a 24-year-old LPGA rookie from Tonsberg, Norway. Borge posted a superb three birdie 69 on Baltusrol’s beastly Lower course on Thursday to grab a share of the club’s lead among the finishers of the morning wave. On her bag was Corey Birch, who wouldn’t have looked familiar to even the most ardent LPGA fan.
Heck, even Borg hardly knows him.
That’s because she just hired him this week.
“I took him out of the club,” she said after her tour. “I really just want someone to carry the bag, and he’s been really good at it.”
If that sounds like something you might hear from a player who doesn’t place much weight in the potential benefits of having a regular camper who knows her inclinations or when to try to talk her out of a questionable decision, well… that’s the Borg. Since she’s passed the tour, she’s done so without a permanent stand, instead recruiting a local hacker when she gets to the site—and with only one purpose: to carry her bag. This season, that means 11 starts with 11 different cans.
She likes to pick her own clubs, read her own tweezers, and do her own thing—just as she did a year ago on the Epson Tour, where she turned down even the push cart and picked up her own bag.
When asked about the hardest adjustment in her LPGA life, she said, “It’s owning a caddy. I’m not used to having a trolley. I just try to do what I’ve always done, just play my own game and have someone to carry the caddy.”
In Borg’s first start of the season – the LPGA Drive On Championship – she climbed up the leaderboard after a third round 63 and eventually finished 14th. Since then, she has made the cut in six of her nine starts with two top 20 finishes. This week marks Borg’s second career start, and if round one is any indication, she’s dealing with swell greens in the lower course herself.
“I just try to play as normal as possible and see how it goes,” she said.
The women’s PGA field is playing for a record $10 million purse this week. If Borg continues her good game, her fund will enjoy a payday like never before.