Lin and Zhang are no strangers to the team format, with Lin representing China in the Asian Games last week and Zhang recently donning the USA colours in the Solheim Cup in Spain.

Lin, the top-ranked Chinese player in the field, is ready for the days ahead following her bronze-medal performance in the Asian Games. Speaking about her experience last week, Lin said: “It was a very memorable week, playing the Asian Games again after 13 years. Since Covid, I’ve not played a tournament with spectators in China. We got really big support, and it was crazy. I was shocked by how many people actually came out to watch us. And to see that and also coming to Hong Kong, and going to Shanghai next week and seeing how many people and friends and family are going to come out these couple of weeks.”

Comparing her recent team event at the Asian Games to the Aramco Team Series, Lin said: “I think it gave me some idea about how I’m going to approach this week and next week. So yeah, it was a good event. I think it gives me a pretty good warm-up for this week.”

Meanwhile, Zhang, the former world No. 1 ranked amateur, has had a “crazy” year which saw her win on her professional debut in June at the Mizuho Americas Open on the LPGA tour before making her debut in the Solheim Cup in Spain two weeks ago. Reflecting on her journey, Zhang said: “Five months in, it’s been quite a journey being able to be on tour and play on a weekly basis with players I’ve seen on TV whilst growing up.”

Drawing from her incredible college golf experience at Stanford, Zhang highlighted the importance of bonding and being in the moment, stating: “That kind of mindset of getting to know people and learning how to cherish times on the golf course. That’s similar to what I’m doing here.”

The iconic Hong Kong Golf Club hosts this week’s Aramco Team Series, with both Zhang and Lin competing in Hong Kong as professionals for the first time, with Lin having many fond memories of competing at Hong Kong Golf Club as an amateur.

Lin said: “I’m really looking forward to [this week]. This is my first time playing the new course at Hong Kong Golf Club. I think the course is in good shape. It’s a course that can have a very low score. I think everyone will try to attack a little more, especially when we have the team event involved. So, I will be as aggressive as I can and try to go for a pretty low score.”

Zhang is relishing the challenge of the course layout and added: “I love how this course is laid out. I know that it’s really tight. There are some lines out here that you may think that’s the middle of the fairway, but it’s not. So, being able to kind of hone in on your lines and understanding where to miss will be a really key position. So I think that’s really good for me. I love strategising and learning how to make a game plan so I can play my best.”

Main image: Aramco Team Series

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Zhang’s professional debut sent shockwaves through the golf world when she secured victory at the Mizuho Americas Open in June. Her incredible win made her the first player to achieve this feat on the LPGA Tour since Japanese star Hinako Shibuno in 2019. Zhang’s triumph marked her as the eighth player since 1992 to win in their first professional start on Tour, joining the ranks of household names such as Karrie Webb.

Zhang’s extraordinary amateur career included eight wins in a single season, a record that ties her with golf legend Tiger Woods for the most wins by a Stanford player in the school’s history. Zhang’s remarkable journey saw her win 12 times in just 20 starts during her Stanford career, surpassing all other players, both male and female, including Woods.

Zhang’s reign as the world’s No. 1-ranked amateur extended over an impressive 141 weeks, a record unmatched by any other player. Her amateur tenure also featured 13 starts on the LPGA Tour, including participation in eight major championships, with her best finish being T11 at the 2020 Chevron Championship.

Currently ranked 32nd in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Zhang said: “I’m delighted to be part of the Aramco Team Series — Hong Kong. It’s an incredible opportunity to be part of such an exciting world-class event, and I’m eager to take on some of the world’s best on this fantastic stage in Hong Kong.”

Joining Zhang and Vu in Hong Kong from the European Solheim Cup team are Carlota Ciganda and Caroline Hedwall. ATS Florida champion Ciganda secured the crucial point to help Team Europe retain the Solheim Cup by defeating ATS London champ Nelly Korda 2&1 in their singles match in Spain.

Accompanying Ciganda is fellow European Hedwall, who defeated American Ally Ewing 2-Up in a decisive Sunday singles match.

Main image: Rose Zhang. Malcolm Mackenzie/LET

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Rose Zhang is among five rookies on the US Solheim Cup team, and one of eight competing overall this week at Finca Cortesin. Since closing out her storied amateur career in May, the 20-year-old California native has had a memorable three-plus months as a professional, most notably winning on her first LPGA start as a pro. Still, it’s only been three-plus months, leading some to ask whether she feels prepared for the intense competition that awaits in Spain.

Try absolutely — thanks in large part to the team play experiences she had during her amateur days. In particular, Zhang can draw confidence from her results from her two Curtis Cup starts. The Americans beat Great Britain & Ireland in lopsided fashion in both 2021 (12-8) and 2022 (15.5-4.5). Zhang’s overall record from the competitions was 6-1-2. While going from those dominant US teams to a American Solheim Cup squad desperate to end a two-match losing streak will take some adjusting to, Zhang believes she can make a smooth transition.

Rose Zhang played on two victorious American Curtis Cup teams, going 6-1-2 in her matches. Andrew Redington

“For the Curtis Cups that I played the last two years, Team USA won in points by a landslide. But it did not feel like that when we were actually playing out there. Regardless of how many points we were ahead or how many points we were losing, it’s always going to be a tight match,” Zhang said. “So being on your toes, playing for your team and having that bigger mindset is all important.”

On paper, it looks like both Curtis Cups were handily won. But what happened to get to those numbers is really what matters: Experiencing the feeling of urgency, the need to win your match. Zhang says she didn’t miss out on that.

“In team play, it’s essential to never give up,” Zhang said. “I think ‘playing for your team’ is a very cliché mindset, but it’s also very important when you’re in that team environment.”

The Curtis Cup also prepared Zhang by bringing her to the opposing team’s home turf, having played the first one over in Wales. “You’ve got more people who are rooting against you,” Zhang said. “We definitely felt the environment, all the ‘Oles’ and all the cheers on the European side.”

Yes, Zhang is a Solheim Cup rookie. But her history of successful team play at the Curtis Cup may have given her just enough experience to help her shine in Spain.

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On the Monterey Peninsula, and particularly at Pebble Beach Golf Links, everything just feels better when the sun shines. The changing shades of blue and green in the water are more stunning. The sand on the beach looks whiter, the grass on the course greener.

For the first two days of the first US Women’s Open played on this historic seaside locale, the mood was dampened somewhat by the clouds that refused to give the sun a peak until it was about time to set. It’s not overstating to say it was gloomy, and the play seemed to mirror that at times, with some of the world’s best players looking cold and glum.

That all changed when Saturday dawned with bright skies and the prospects for a memorable weekend. Pebble Beach truly emerged as the wondrous golf jewel it is, each turn on the course more stunning than the next (as the drones so masterfully captured), and the players responded with their finest golf.

Allisen Corpuz, an accomplished amateur and second-year LPGA player who, on the outside at least, seemed almost too meek to make a huge statement, did exactly what you need to do in a US Open. She steadily and without disaster shot 71-69 on the weekend, bleeding the resolve out of her chasers, including final-group playing partner Nasa Hataoka, who led Corpuz by one at the outset and ended up six shots behind her.

The golf got more compelling as the weekend went on. We should always remember that Hataoka took her lead with a stunning Saturday 66 and that Charley Hull on Sunday missed a birdie putt for 65 that would have tied her with Tiger Woods and Gary Woodland for the lowest round in US Open history at Pebble.

And, finally, as Corpuz stood on the 18th green with the trophy, the first woman to hoist the prize on this shoreline, the sun shone on her face, just as everybody envisioned.

In this case, Pebble Beach won, too.

The expectations for the week were incredibly high, and both the players and the course rose to the occasion. A winning score in the mid-single-digits under par seemed reasonable, and Corpuz did even better at nine-under 279. She left the rest to scuffle at finishing in red numbers, with only seven players pulling that off.

It was by no means a blood bath, and that’s exactly as the USGA hoped. The setup, with nasty rough for the women’s game but manageable yardages and green speeds, drew nearly universal praise, other than maybe some quibbles with most of the par 5s not being reachable in two. But considering that’s seen virtually every week on the LPGA, that extra challenge was absolutely necessary for the national championship.

The biggest buzz beforehand was how this first US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, shown in primetime on the east coast, might attract fans and viewers who hadn’t connected with the women’s side of the game. On-site, the event drew 45,000 spectators over five days, including 11,000 on Saturday. The USGA was happy with that, as it was with the overnight ratings for Thursday’s first round on USA Network. The average total viewership over six hours was 367,000—making it the most-watched first round of the Women’s Open since Pinehurst in 2014 and 119 per cent better than Thursday last year at Pine Needles.

The television ratings numbers for Friday aren’t expected to be released until Monday, and the weekend numbers should be out on Tuesday. But the USGA’s belief is that they will be among the best in the history of the event.

Other takeaways from the week:

The Rose Zhang factor is real

Rose Zhang signs her autograph for a young fan prior to the 78th US Women’s Open. Harry How

We could chalk it up somewhat to the fact that Rose Zhang went to college 90 miles north of Pebble Beach at Stanford, but the large galleries that followed her—by far the most for any player during the week—say something much more. Zhang has become the “it” player in the LPGA after opening her professional career with a victory at Liberty National and contending into Sunday in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship earlier this month.

Pebble is not an easy walk, but parents dragged their little ones, or put them on their shoulders, to follow Zhang from hole to hole, probably so they could say that they saw her before her popularity truly exploded. At least it feels that way, with Zhang not winning, but once again showing that all of her top-level amateur success will translate beautifully on the pro circuit.

Zhang wasn’t able to create a true buzz at Pebble because she opened with a 74, got somewhat back into the mix with a 71 but fell back again with a 72. Eight shots off the lead heading into Sunday was a bit too much to ask, even after she came from six back at Liberty National, and Zhang closed with another 72 to finish at one-over 289.

Still, that’s now a win, and T-8 and T-9 in subsequent majors in Zhang’s first three pro starts. Happily, for women’s golf, this is just a palate cleanser for what we’re going to see for weeks and months to come.

A caddie and husband’s big payday

It’s definitely a unique arrangement. Jennifer Kupcho is one of the top players on the LPGA and her husband, Jay Monahan, is the caddie for Corpuz. Monahan never saw himself as a full-time looper, but then Corpuz needed him in a pinch at the end of January 2023, and they have been a team ever since.

That’s all well and good, but how about when the husband is the first to be part of a major championship win? While Monahan figures to make about 10 per cent of Corpuz’s winnings—or $200,000—Kupcho didn’t make the cut at Pebble and was paid only $8,000 by the USGA for expenses.

“This is obviously incredible, but I think it’s going to take a while to settle in,” Monahan said on the edge of the 18th green after he’d accepted a sliver plate from USGA CEO Mike Whan. “I felt like since I started working with Allisen I’ve been pretty lucky. She’s a joy to work for and a great player. She’s had a few close calls now, and to see her get over the hump today was remarkable.”

An Irish delight

Amateur Ãine Donegan waves after making par on the second green during the third round of the 78th US Women’s Open. Harry How

The breakout “discovery” of the week was Irishwoman Aine Donegan, an upcoming junior at LSU whose early play—she opened with a 69—and good-natured interviews (and playful brogue) won many hearts. Even when Donegan closed with a 77 on Sunday while battling an illness to finish with a nine-over total, she was exuberant on the 18th green, waving an Irish flag and shedding a few tears.

This is a woman who completely took in stride making a quintuple-bogey 9 on the eighth hole in the third round.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better week,” Donegan said. “My goal was to make the cut.”

What’s up with Lexi?

Lexi Thompson stands on the sixth green during the second round of the 78th US Women’s Open. Harry How

Lexi Thompson has lived for nine years with the question of when she would win her second major. But at only 28 years old, she now seems to be facing a more existential crisis about her golf.

When Thompson dejectedly walked off Pebble Beach’s 18th green on Friday, with no shot at making the weekend after shooting 74-79, she left behind big questions about where she goes from here. She still is ranked 13th in the world, but that’s a precarious position, considering that the 11-time tour winner has played only seven times in 2023 and missed four cuts.

Worse for Thompson, she is ranked 137th in the CME Globe season race after the US Open and a long way to making the top 60 who’ll compete in the November’s Tour Championship.

The top 100 in the CME standings earn their tour cards for next year, and with Thompson possibly not among them, she will have the option to use her tournament winner status or career money list exemption. She’s 10th all-time.

The question is: What’s her desire to play at this point? She has spoken of no injuries, but her play has continued to be mediocre. Maybe she’s reached the burnout stage, or is it just too many disappointments in majors that have taken their toll. She coughed up the 54-hole lead in the 2021 US Women’s Open at Olympic Club and twice finished top-four in majors last season, including losing a two-shot lead with five holes to play in the Women’s PGA.

Maybe the time comes when it’s all just too much to care so deeply about. We’re not saying that’s the problem, but the rest of the season might provide more answers.

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The 78th US Women’s Open, in another first this week, moves to six hours of primetime coverage on NBC for the third round Saturday. With rookie Bailey Tardy holding a two-shot lead at seven under, here are seven storylines to follow at Pebble Beach:

How will the final pairing handle the pressure?

It’s a winless pairing anchoring the third round. Neither Tardy nor Allisen Corpuz have won yet on the LPGA Tour. Tardy, in her rookie season, has a best finish of T-23 in Hawaii back in April. Corpuz, at five under par going into the weekend, has limited experience with two top-fives in 2023.

She posted a T-3 in Singapore back in March and a T-4 at the Chevron Championship in April.

Allisen Corpuz putts on the seventh green during the second round of the 78th US Women’s Open. Ezra Shaw

“I honestly still need to get a little more comfortable, I think, in contention,” Corpuz said. “So that’s really been the focus this year, just really trying to put myself into that spot and then hopefully learn how to convert as it keeps happening.”

Tardy planned to spend time with her family, heading up the coast to Big Sur for a dinner before the 455th player in the Rolex Rankings starts the third round at 1:36 p.m. Pacific.

“This is a dream, being at the top of the leaderboard in a US Open,” Tardy said.

Can defending champion Minjee Lee make a run?

The Australian is one of 10 players sitting eight behind Bailey’s lead at T-11. With the experience of seven LPGA victories, including two major titles, Lee maintained perspective on her opportunity to move up the leaderboard Saturday.

“I feel like I’m probably in a pretty good position right now,” Lee said. “Just I can be maybe a little bit more aggressive and, you know, maybe put up a score earlier than the girls. Maybe it won’t be as windy. Then see where I am after that.”

If Lee can cut into Tardy’s lead, she could position herself to become the first player to defend a US Women’s Open title since countrywoman and Hall of Famer Karrie Webb did it in 2000 and 2001.

Will the top players continue their turnaround?

Even with a testing Friday setup, some of the tour’s best players turned their tournaments around. Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko followed their first-round four-over-par 76s with a 73 and 71, respectively.

“I think just played a little bit better, but that’s weird,” Ko said. “That’s golf.”

With more difficult conditions expected over the weekend, the Nos. 2 and 3 in the Rolex Rankings have momentum heading into Saturday to claw back into contention.

How will the wind impact play?

Pebble Beach is already playing a tough, averaging almost four over par. Another challenge will arrive over the weekend, with possible wind gusts of up to 25 mph. Temperatures aren’t supposed to get out of the low 60s.

“You’re going to have to wear your jacket this weekend,” USGA CEO Mike Whan said.

The USGA’s Shannon Rouillard, who sets up the course, pointed out that the 13th and 14th tees may need to move up. Those two holes, in particular, play straight into that wind.

Can an amateur climb up the leaderboard?

Amateur Ãine Donegan plays from the rough after taking a drop on the second hole during the second round of the 78th US Women’s Open. Harry How

An amateur has finished in the top 15 in the last six US Women’s Opens. Ingrid Lindblad won the low honours at Pine Needles in 2022 with a T-11 finish. Four amateurs made the cut at Pebble, with Ireland’s Aine Donegan leading at T-11 with a score of one over par. The LSU sophomore shot four-over 76 Friday.

“I’m pleased with how I finished,” Donegan said. “I finished with three pars and that was my goal, just try and get in with the same score, and luckily I did.”

The other three playing the weekend, Monet Chun, Benedetta Moresco and Amari Avery are all at T-26 and three over par.

Will Rose Zhang move into striking distance?

This week’s betting favourite sits eight strokes behind the leader at one over par. Zhang finished her morning wave one under 71. At that point, Zhang was T-22, aware of the weekend task ahead of her.

“I’ve been in this position before where you have to chase and it’s nothing new to me,” Zhang said after her round. “I’ll just be trying to do the same thing: Get my game plan and try to hit as many fairways and greens, because that will allow you to gain more birdie opportunities.”

Yet without taking a stroke, Zhang found herself finishing the day at T-11 when the afternoon wave fell back. There are now 10 players between Pebble’s women’s competitive course record-holder and the lead, a surmountable gap with another solid round.

Will the first seven holes be the easiest again?

As the wind picked up Friday, the front nine proved a more straightforward test for the field. Six of the easiest holes were from Nos. 1 through 7. The only one missing, the fifth, was the eighth easiest. The only two holes to play in red figures are the par 5s, the second (4.89) and the sixth (4.82).

Chasers must make hay at the start to chip away before hanging on through the difficult back nine to climb back into contention.

The post Bailey Tardy sets the pace, Rose Zhang in the hunt and 5 other things to watch for Saturday at the US Women’s Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Rose Zhang had quite the afternoon in the US Women’s Open, and she didn’t hit a golf shot. She was probably relaxing on a comfy couch somewhere.

It was 2:15 p.m. in California when Zhang putted out for par on her last hole, the ninth at Pebble Beach, in the second round. The 20-year-old sensation recorded a 71, a three-shot improvement from the first round, and stood at one over to be tied for 22nd place as the morning wave players finished.

“Really grateful that I was able to make the cut,” Zhang said after she signed her scorecard.

How does she feel now that she’s in contention?

As the temperature dropped and the wind picked up on the Monterey Peninsula coastline, the scores climbed. So much so, that it seemed Zhang was making up ground by the minute. And by the time the clock struck 8 and the sun set, there was Zhang on the first page of the leaderboard, tied for 11th place.

Week 3 as a Pro ? #USWomensOpen

Getting adjusted to life as a professional, Rose Zhang sits inside the top 20 after her second round. pic.twitter.com/El0GqDaDj7

— U.S. Women's Open (USGA) (@uswomensopen) July 7, 2023

Heading into the weekend, Zhang still trails leader Bailey Tardy, who was in the first group out on the back nine Friday morning during easier conditions and shot the day’s best score of 68 to be at seven under. But the margin of eight off the lead with 36 holes to play and gusty winds in the forecast will give the fans of Zhang—and probably TV executives—hope for a compelling weekend after the gloomy skies and challenging conditions on Friday afternoon turned the play into a bit of an undramatic slog.

Tardy, whose best finish this season is a T-23 in Hawaii while missing five cuts, was two shots ahead of Allisen Corpuz and Hyo Joo Kim, who shot 70 and 71, respectively, also in the morning. The point being that anybody in the top 11 going into the weekend can believe they have a chance to lift the trophy on Sunday. It’s very possible that the scores will only come further back to level.

Zhang, in her US Open debut as a pro, managed only three birdies in her second round but avoided the big number that bit her on Thursday when she double-bogeyed the eighth hole. Starting on the difficult ninth hole, Zhang got off slowly with bogeys at 12 and 16, and that point she was hovering around the early cutline of four over.

But she stripped her tee shot to 10 feet on the par-3 17th to make birdie and then played her second nine in two under with birdies on the two par 5s, Nos. 2 and 6.

A perfectly played hole by Rose Zhang. ?#USWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/pZRoblStFj

— U.S. Women's Open (USGA) (@uswomensopen) July 7, 2023

“I was able to hole a really, really good putt on 17 and that kind of shifted my momentum into the back nine,” Zhang said. “Felt very solid with my game in general. I knew that I had some errors yesterday that I wanted to prevent, so today I tried to work on those things and figure out how to play the course better.”

Of the 10 players ahead of Zhang, only In Gee Chun and Hyo Joo Kim have won major championships. Her trouble, however, is that, with the tough conditions levelling the playing field, there are 11 players tied at one over.

The post Rose Zhang slides into contention at US Women’s Open, improves 11 spots during afternoon without hitting a shot appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

It is a shot so rare and bold that Rose Zhang had never used it in a tournament. And that makes it all the more impressive how she pulled it off in the first round of the US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach.

Late Thursday, with the skies dark and a light drizzle in the air, Zhang missed her target on the par-3 17th, coming up short and right of the back-left pin placement. When she arrived at her ball, a putt just didn’t seem feasible, since she’d have to navigate the ridge by rolling her ball over the fringe.

MORE: Rose Zhang suffers a disaster at Pebble’s difficult eighth hole

Leave this one to the pros. ?@rosezhang #USWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/H7k6PfbeBX

— U.S. Women's Open (USGA) (@uswomensopen) July 7, 2023

So Zhang decided to use a wedge on the green—something golf fans saw once over a few years while watching golf. It’s one of those shots that make superintendents cringe because nobody wants to see a dollar-size divot taken out of green. Particularly not on the first day of a major championship. It requires the most exacting of swings.

“Funny thing is I’ve never done that before in competition. Yeah, the first time. So there is always something new,” Zhang, standing behind the 18th green, said with a laugh after her round of two-over-par 74, which left her tied for 39th, six shots off the lead of Xiyu Lin.

How about in practice?

“I definitely have,” she said. “When I’m practising with my teammates, we all have a bit of fun, and we like to practice wedges on greens. So it’s a bit of a fun game, but it’s weird that it’s actually in practice when I’m not playing.”

So on Thursday, with 53 feet to the hole, Zhang executed her pitch to near perfection, with the ball looking like it was going to drop in before drifting less than an inch to the left. Zhang picked it so cleanly that the only thing she disturbed on the green was gathering dew.

“It was a bit risky,” Zhang said, then converting the tap in for par, “but I felt like it was my shot of the day.”

When he needed it most.@GaryWoodland wows with the wedge.

He'll take a 2-shot lead to 18. pic.twitter.com/H522Q3AUFx

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 17, 2019

What Zhang didn’t know, or had forgotten, was the history of that very wedge shot on the 17th green. In the final round of the 2019 US Open, with eventual champion Gary Woodland leading by two shots, he ended up in a similar shop to a similar pin. He too pulled it off, with the commentators raving about how remarkable it was under pressure. Frankly, Zhang’s was probably executed better. But no matter. Both were examples of skills not owned by mere mortals.

MORE: Rose Zhang—The secret behind the sweetest swing in golf

Talking to reporters, Zhang was trying to place the Woodland shot in her mind, and then her agent quickly found it on his phone. She beamed while watching it.

“Dude, that’s crazy,” Zhang said. “Oh. Wait, wait, wait. I did see this shot. … It’s all coming back. Yeah, I don’t know where I was, but it was definitely on TV.”

And now Zhang has her memorable clip at 17, just like Woodland and Tom Watson. That’s a pretty sweet club to join.

The post Rose Zhang pulls off this boss move using a wedge on Pebble’s 17th green, and learns the lore about it later appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

It is the most knee-knocking, white-knuckle shot in all of golf. None other than Jack Nicklaus deemed it the “most dramatic.” And why not? On the eighth hole at Pebble Beach, players stand on an outcropping of land, the Pacific Ocean 70 feet below.

In 2022, Jordan Spieth created the most news about the eighth in years when he chose to hit a shot near the precipice. Spieth would later admit, “I wish I hadn’t done it. In fact, I regret doing it.”

On Thursday in the US Women’s Open, there was a different kind of drama with one of the game’s young stars. With the players forsaking their longest shots for fear of driving over the cliff’s edge, they were laying back off the tee. Rose Zhang, who had just birdied the seventh to get to two under, hit a 189-yard tee shot that left her with a long carry, 202 yards to the flagstick. The air was damp and cold, and the wind seemed to be crossing across the players’ faces.

MORE: LPGA rookie DQ’d from Open for caddie using range finder

Zhang chose a wood, but from the moment she struck it, she watched anxiously as her ball dipped like a seagull into the brush on the bank in front of the green. From the movement of the marshals (or lack thereof), they clearly didn’t see where the ball flew in.

The trouble, in this case, was that Zhang had to walk to the hole and look for the ball. Maybe this wasn’t quite as daring as Spieth’s move, but Zhang did climb several feet down looking. Not able to find her ball, she had to take the ride of shame in a golf cart back to the top of the cliff to play what would be her fourth shot after the penalty.

From 172 yards, Zhang hit a beautiful shot onto the green, giving her a 13-foot putt for what would have been a very impressive bogey. But she missed on her roll and suffered a double-bogey that knocked her back to even par and off the first page of the leaderboard.

This would be no solace to Zhang, but she was not alone in her misery at No. 8. For the day to that point, there had been seven other double bogeys and one 7 to go with 34 bogeys. The hole was playing as the fourth-hardest in the round.

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This week’s US Women’s Open, making its maiden visit to Pebble Beach, is an unprecedented opportunity for professional women’s golf. With it comes 12 hours of weekend coverage that lasts into primetime on the East Coast, an alchemy that provides the LPGA Tour a first-of-its-kind opportunity to reach new audiences.

“Our Golf Channel broadcast from our West Coast [tournaments] are some of our most highly viewed events, and then to have that on NBC Network television in primetime for the first time ever, it’s really, really special,” Golf Channel commentator and former US Women’s Open champion Morgan Pressel said.

MORE: Michelle Wie West prepares to say farewell at Pebble Beach

“Then you put the two of them together. People are going to tune in because they’ve heard of Pebble Beach. They might have never watched an LPGA event in their life, but they’ve heard of Pebble Beach, and here it is on Sunday evening and they’re flipping through channels and they’re like, ‘Wow, this is really amazing; this is some incredible golf. What an exciting event.’”

Building towards this moment, players have clamoured for years about the importance of playing at prestigious venues to entice casual fans to watch them compete. Pebble Beach fits the bill, as golf fans can picture some of the game’s most iconic holes with their eyes closed.

With a simple search on YouTube, you can relive the images of Jack Nicklaus’ 1-iron on 17 at the 1972 US Open, Tom Watson chipping in on the same par 3 to best Nicklaus a decade later, or Tiger Woods’ world-shattering 2000 performance, among many historic golf moments. The LPGA’s players can now benefit from the memories evoked from the six US Opens held at Pebble.

“I think being on iconic venues is a more sustainable improvement for the tour, because it increases the media value, and you have to increase media value to attain more money,” Michelle Wie West, the 2014 US Women’s Open champion, said.

MORE: Rose Zhang owns Pebble Beach scoring record, but US Women’s Open offers different challenge

Visiting heralded golf courses isn’t a one-off trend for the LPGA. Only two weeks ago, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship was held at New Jersey’s Baltusrol Golf Club, the first time a women’s major was played there since 1985. The AIG Women’s Open was at Muirfield last year, which held 16 Open Championships before the women made their debut, female members were finally admitted in 2019. They’ll return to St. Andrews next year, the second appearance there along with 2007. On its first trip to Southern California, the US Women’s Open goes to Riviera Country Club in 2026. The women return to the West for a major again next year at Sahalee in Sammamish, Wash., for the Women’s PGA.

Two of golf’s biggest attractions, Michelle Wie West and Rose Zhang, walk together during a practice round at Pebble Beach ahead of the US Women’s Open. Kathryn Riley

Visiting West Coast venues paid off recently for the US Women’s Open. Two years ago at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, with seven hours on NBC, the event averaged 600,000 viewers, for a 62-percent increase in viewership year-over-year.

The West Coast boost occurred just two weeks ago at the men’s US Open at Los Angeles Country Club, where ratings averaged 3.4 million viewers across NBC’s platforms. It’s the best ratings since … wait for it … 2019 when it was on the West Coast at Pebble Beach.

The USGA strongly believes that women also will see a ratings jump from playing at Pebble. “It wouldn’t surprise me if we were 50 per cent higher than Pine Needles,” USGA Chief Commercial Officer Jon Podany said.

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George Pinnell has known Rose Zhang for almost 10 years. The phenom of women’s golf was 11 when she first landed at Pinnell’s driving range, and they’ve been working together ever since.

When Pinnell looks back on his time together with Zhang thus far, there’s one story that jumps to the forefront of his mind. It was during a junior tournament in the 2020 PING Invitational. Zhang opened with a two-under 70 but had just shot 75 in her second round—an unusually high round for a phenom who by that point was already destined for big things in women’s golf. But it wasn’t the score that surprised him most. Rather, what happened after.

This is Rose Zhang’s golf swing when she was 11 years-old ?

A nerdy story about how the sweetest swing in golf came to be:

https://t.co/ac3O5DhVJ1 pic.twitter.com/LAgwC1RJOD

— LKD (@LukeKerrDineen) July 5, 2023

“I got a text from her, which was very unusual, all it said was: ‘It was brutal out there today. The wind was up a little bit and it was overcast and cool, and I had a swing flaw,’” Pinnell said.

“I dang near fell out of my chair when she told me because she never calls or texts me about her golf swing on the road … I was wondering how in the heck she’s going to get her swing back into shape when she does have an issue.”

The next day Zhang shot 67 and won. A week later she returned to Pinnell’s driving range. Pinnell says ordinarily, he keeps his role simple: To give specific answers to specific questions. But that text was so unusual, it had him wondering: What changed between rounds two and three? From a swing-flawed round to a tournament-winning one?

“She said, ‘Well, I went to the driving range right after my round and I took out my 9 iron. I didn’t hit one ball. I went through all the golf swing fundamentals one by one making really slow swings. And in less than 10 minutes I found it and I knew what it was. I took my club, I put it back in my bag and I said, ‘Dad, let’s go have dinner.’”

It’s Rose Zhang’s golf swing that has captured the adulation of the golf world. Soft like warm butter, but seamless like a second-hand moving around an expensive watch. It sparkled once again during a practice round at the US Women’s Open this week when a viral video showed Zhang flipping an effortless wedge into Pebble Beach’s iconic seventh hole and then the tee she used into her pocket.

Stuffing a wedge in close AND having the tee flip into your back pocket. Just @rosezhang things ? pic.twitter.com/AqfwBx1UDK

— Callaway Golf (@CallawayGolf) July 4, 2023

But as impressive as her golf swing technique is, Pinnell has seen plenty of great swings over the years. It goes with the territory, being a good golf coach near a hub in Southern California. For Pinnell, the ultimate validation as a coach is helping a student understand how their golf swing works—their habits, both good and bad. The technical work is done at home, on the driving range. On the course, or during tournaments, is when the self-starters thrive. A separate, but equally essential skill.

To master that, it’s not about observing the golf swing itself but understanding the basic principles that make it all work.

Grip tweaks for clubface awareness

Pinnell likes to say he doesn’t instruct students but rather helps them “build golf swings,” which he defines as “delivering the club into the ball in an efficient manner.” The pair will use launch monitors to track this and lean heavily on V1 video software to check some key points in Rose’s golf swing.

Ultimately though, there’s one connection between swing and club: Through the hands.

Zhang’s grip may not look different from day to day to the rest of us, but Zhang is constantly making little adjustments, Pinnell says, to match up with the slight changes in the rest of her body. That’s the thing about golf swings. They move around. Making these sometimes imperceptible grip changes allows Rose to calibrate her hands with the clubface, and understand where it is during the crucial moments of impact. It gives her a sense of clubface awareness that is present in every great golf swing.

One thing I find cool and exciting about Rose Zhang’s game is that she’s an elite driver of the ball (SG OTT: +4.72) through an incredible combination of both distance *and* accuracy. pic.twitter.com/EqVdtpqbzx

— LKD (@LukeKerrDineen) June 26, 2023

“Oftentimes when she says that she feels like her grip is off, I will look at it and it looks really good, but she doesn’t feel comfortable. So we’ll mess around with it just a little bit and all of a sudden she’ll say, ‘Oh, this is better. Let me hit a ball’” So she’ll hit a ball and say, “That’s it. I’ve got it now,’” he says. “I don’t even know what we did. We just moved her hands just a little bit because you can’t see it. The feeling is so dialled in that you can’t see something that is wrong, but you can feel it.”

Width in the backswing

Most teachers consider the width of Zhang’s arms on the backswing to be her hallmark move. With the rise in popularity of 3D golf swing measurement systems, we’ve come to understand how crucial keeping your arms wide on your backswing is. Stretching and strengthening your arms on your backswing as Rose does helps promote a bigger, and more powerful, turn in your body on the backswing.

On the downswing, Pinnell says maintaining that width prevents the club from getting disconnected from the rest of her body—into a prototypically “stuck” position—which helps release more energy back out into the club head.

“That width in her takeaway gives her golf swing that structure. There’s no slack in it, no looseness,” Pinnell says.

“We monitor the kinematic sequence on V1 pretty intensely, but the club first on the takeaway starts the movement of the arms; the arms will start the turning of the shoulders and the backswing; and then the shoulders will initiate the hip turn. We really like the top where the arms are out in front of their chest and really wide. A lot of the faults today in players that come in that are really pretty good players is they let their right elbow swing around, beside them where it’s disconnected from the right shoulder.”

Structure first, not speed

Icon Sportswire

Pinnell’s most controversial opinion is refuting the popularized idea that junior golfers should chase speed before technique. Those who endorse that idea argue that building your golf muscles is easier the younger you are. Backswing technique can be fixed relatively easily, they say. Adding speed only gets more difficult, the older you get.

Pinnell understands their point, but simply disagrees.

“I’m really in the minority of coaches that believe today you should be teaching the kids how to hit it as far as they can. There’s 95% of the guys and girls out there that are coaching to hit the ball hard,” he says.

“Of course, we’ll try to add some speed when we get a little older. But I think once you get someone who is swinging hard, it’s going to be harder to get them in the positions that will actually help them be able to hit the ball where they’re aiming,” he says. “It’s having a Corvette and it’ll go 200 miles an hour. Well, you don’t want to always have your foot on the pedal at 200 miles an hour because you’re going to wreck it. I’d rather have the swing built and then have them use whatever speed they have in their body within that.”

Moving into your left side

In all its oversimplified glory, golf swings are essentially two moves: A turn back into your right side on the backswing, and a turn through into your left side on the way through.

Pinnell says lots of golfers struggle with the second of those two moves. They load back, but they never make it to their lead side. It’s the byproduct of the modern era, Pinnell says, where players hang back on their right side in an attempt to hit more up on the golf ball.

On the rare occasion, Zhang struggles, that’s often what happens.

“Sometimes we have a little bit of a problem getting into that left side because a lot of players today are hitting off of their right side,” he says. “We like to see everything get over on the left side.”

Christian Petersen

For Zhang, the feeling of getting into her left side is intertwined with her tempo. Too fast and she can tend to hang back. Smoothness as she transitions from backswing to downswing helps her move into her left leg, and swing through.

This was actually one of the first things Zhang and Pinnell worked on together. The 11-year-old’s golf swing was in good shape when she arrived — thank her father for that, Pinnell says — but the sequence of moving into her left side was slightly off, he says.

“The motion that she had was pretty good, it just wasn’t synchronized as well as it could be and she was out of position in some of her moves, so that’s where we started” he says. “I knew there was some potential there. We just didn’t know how far it was going to go.”

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