Zhang was born in Arcadia, California, and resides in Irvine, California.[1] Her parents are Haibin Zhang (father) and Li Cai, and her brother is Bill Sida Zhang, who is 10 years older.[3][4]
She began playing golf at the age of 9.[3] For high school, Zhang attended Pacific Academy where she was ranked twice as the world's top amateur female golfer.[3][4] She enrolled at Stanford University in 2021, and has not declared an academic major.[3][4]
Zhang has had the same golf swing coach, George Pinnell, since age 11.[3] At the 2022 Carmel Cup, she established the women's course record of 9 under par at the Pebble Beach Golf Links,[3][4] site of the 2023 U.S. Women's Open.
In May 2022, Zhang won the individual NCAA Championship by 3 shots. On her 19th birthday, she was presented with the Annika Award as the top female college golfer of the year.[3] She finished the 2022 Women's British Open in a tie for 28th, earning the Smyth Salver Award as the low amateur.[11]
On April 1, 2023, Zhang won the Augusta National Women's Amateur on the second playoff hole over Jenny Bae.[12][13] Also in April, she became the female golfer ranked number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for 141 weeks, the most of any player in history.[10][14] In May 2023, Zhang won the individual NCAA Championship for the second consecutive year, becoming the first woman in NCAA women's golf history to win the individual national championship twice.[15] Her 68.80 scoring average over 31 rounds in the 2022–23 season is the lowest in NCAA women's golf history, bettering the record her Stanford teammate Rachel Heck had set the previous year.[16]
Sponsorships
In June 2022, Adidas announced its first name, image, and likeness (NIL) deal with Zhang for her apparel, golf shoes and accessories, making her the company's first sponsored student athlete.[17][18] The multi-year deal was announced on the morning of Zhang entering the U.S. Women's Open.[17]
Other sponsorships established before her professional debut were with Callaway for her golf clubs, ball, and bag, Delta Air Lines, East West Bank, and USwing Eyewear.[18] Other NIL deals exist with Rolex for her watch and Beats by Dre for headphones.[18] In July at the U.S. Women's Open, Zhang began a multiyear sponsorship deal with AT&T.[19]
Professional career
Zhang announced her intention to play professionally on May 26, 2023.[20] In June 2023, at her first tournament as a professional, Zhang won the Mizuho Americas Open by defeating Jennifer Kupcho on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff. Zhang became the first player to win in her professional debut on the LPGA Tour since Beverly Hanson in 1951[21] and the most recent non-member to win in her first LPGA event since Hinako Shibuno in 2019.[10]
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