Rose Zhang set new RECORD as world's top women's amateur golfer

Rose Zhang continues to be a top emerging talent in golf as she sets a new record as the world's top women's amateur.

19 Apr 2023

Rose Zhang has already taken the golf world by storm and cemented herself as one of the sport's brightest young stars, and now she's added another incredible accomplishment to her list.

As of Wednesday, the 19-year-old American broke the previous record for total number of weeks as No. 1 on the women's World Amateur Golf Rankings with a total of 136 weeks, according to a joint release from the The R&A and USGA.

Zhang first topped the women's World Golf Rankings back in September 2020 and has held on.

The previous record was 135 weeks, set by Ireland's Leona Maguire in 2018. Lydia Ko, who was a prominent young star herself, had held the ranking for 130 consecutive weeks.

Zhang said:

“It’s an unbelievable honour and a testament to a lot of hard work not just by me but by my team as well. Passing names like Lydia and Leona on any list is incredible; they’ve both gone on to have such impressive professional careers and are great role models in golf. I’m grateful for all the support I’ve received and look forward to continuing to pursue my dreams in this game.”

Zhang previously joined Maguire and Ko as the only three women to earn the Mark H McCormack medal as the women's top amateur three times. Zhang won it 2020, 2021, and 2022.

In addition to her new record, Zhang has had an incredible past few years in the sport. She recently won the Augusta National Women's Amateur a few weeks ago, setting records along the way there, too.

She won the 2022 NCAA Championship and the US Women's Amateur two years ago, as well.

She also earned the Smyth Salver award as the top amateur at the AIG Women's Open last year and finished tied for 11th at the Chevron Championship in 2020.

The winning moment for Rose Zhang.#ANWAGolf pic.twitter.com/ivya9lfNG8
— Augusta National Women's Amateur (@anwagolf) April 1, 2023

Maguire, whose record Zhang has now broken, congratulated Zhang in the release.

“I want to congratulate Rose on this amazing achievement,” said Maguire. “It takes so much hard work and determination to become the world’s number one amateur golfer and to consistently hold that position for a record-breaking number of weeks shows just how good a golfer Rose really is. She is a future star of the game.”

The chief technology officer at The R&A, Steve Otto, also wished congratulations to Zhang.

"We would like to congratulate Rose on this record-breaking achievement at the highest level of women’s amateur golf, as well as her recent success at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. She has consistently delivered outstanding results for some time now and continues to show why she is so highly regarded in the sport. We look forward to seeing her compete in the AIG Women’s Open once more at Walton Heath this year.”

“Rose continues to build upon an exceptional amateur career, and all of us at the USGA would like to congratulate her on this incredible record-breaking achievement,” added John Bodenhamer, the chief championships officer at the USGA. “She has become a role model to so many young girls around the world and has consistently performed at the highest levels. We know this is only the start of what will be a long and impactful career in the game.”

Zhang is currently a member of Standford University's women's golf team as a sophomore.

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