Rose Zhang Makes History With Second Consecutive NCAA Individual Title

Rose Zhang has done it again at the NCAA D-I women’s championship. 

With a final-round 68, Zhang came from four shots behind to take home the individual title, making history as the first woman in NCAA history to win the national championship in back-to-back years. 

Unlike last year’s title, which Zhang won by three shots, the 19-year-old didn’t have a cushion to lean on in the final round at Grayhawk. The University of Southern California’s Catherine Park entered Round 4 with a two-shot lead at 10 under par for the tournament, while Rose stood at 6 under at the conclusion of Sunday’s round, two strokes behind Lucia Lopez-Ortega of San Jose State who sat in solo second place. 

But Zhang did something that neither Park nor Lopez-Ortega could accomplish at the Scottsdale, Ariz., venue. She put together an expertly consistent 4-under bogey-free round—as she tends to do on the game’s biggest stages—while Park and Lopez-Ortega both went on to shoot 1-under 71s. 

The world No. 1 entered the final hole of the 72-hole stroke play event totally oblivious of where she stood. She had a one-shot lead and was planning to go for the par-5 18th in two shots, until her coach, Anne Walker, convinced her otherwise. 

“I didn’t even know what was going on,” Zhang told Golf Channel. “When I was walking down 18 and started to drive, coach was like, ‘You should lay up, and I was confused. I had 198 out and I really had the ‘I need to go for it’ mentality. And she was like, ‘No, you’ve got a one-stroke lead.’ So I was like, 'oh, maybe I’ll second guess everything that I just thought in that moment.' I can’t believe this happened.”

Last week, Zhang’s win at the NCAA D-I Pullman Regional helped her tie an incredible Stanford record, and on Monday afternoon, the 19-year-old broke it. Zhang now has 12 individual titles as a Stanford University golfer. Patrick Rodgers, Maverick McNealy and none other than Tiger Woods, a 15-time major champion, each had 11 victories during their years at the University. 

“It was quite literally last week where I tied that record, and I didn’t really have anything in mind,” Zhang said. “It was more of, I’ve got school, I’ve got to grind on my p-sets, my midterms, and I felt like a normal student.

“That’s what is so beautiful about being at Stanford. I get to be myself and the people around me treat me the same way. These record books are simply incredible, and I’m incredibly thankful to be a part of it, but at the end of the day I’m just living my life.” 

The victory gives Zhang perhaps the most decorated resume in women’s amateur golf history. She has now won the U.S. Women’s Amateur, the U.S. Girls Junior, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the NCAA individual title twice. 

Zhang also leads her Stanford team to the No. 1 position heading into the match-play team portion of the national championship. The squad will first face off against Pepperdine.