Zhang debuts with a splash
College star caps her first LPGA tournament as a pro with playoff win
Two-time NCAA champion Rose Zhang became the first LPGA Tour winner in her pro debut in 72 years, capturing the Mizuho Americas Open with a par on the second hole in a playoff against Jennifer Kupcho on Sunday.
The last female player to win as a pro in her debut was Beverly Hanson, who edged Babe Zaharias to take the Eastern Open in 1951.
Zhang shot a 2-over 74 in the final round and squandered a chance to win the event on the 72nd hole when she missed an eight-foot par putt after making at least a halfdozen clutch saves in a gritty finalround performance.
The much-heralded 20-year-old from Stanford made a nearly identical eight-footer on No. 18 at Liberty National on the first playoff hole. Kupcho, who won an NCAA title at Wake Forest in 2018 and had a final round 69, also made a par.
Both players hit the fairway on No. 18 on the second playoff hole, but Zhang hit her approach from the fairway within 10 feet. Kupcho was short on her approach, her first putt went just over the back edge of the green and her second putt just missed. That left Zhang with a twoputt par to win.
Zhang held her face in disbelief after the winning putt fell and was then mobbed and presented with bouquets of roses.
Zhang, who is seen as the mosthyped player to join the tour since Michelle Wie in 2009, did not have a birdie in her final round and finished at 9-under 279 on the course with the New York City skyline as a backdrop.
The victory was worth $412,500 (U.S.) and it also earned Zhang and an automatic LPGA Tour membership.
Hovland rallies at Memorial
Viktor Hovland was happy with his three PGA Tour victories, even if they were at resort courses that were soft and susceptible to firing at flags. He wanted a win on American soil, where par was at a premium, and he got every bit of that Sunday at the Memorial.
Two shots behind and facing the three hardest holes at Muirfield Village, Hovland set his sights on a score instead of the leader, Denny McCarthy, and then delivered his best stuff of the day.
Hovland holed a 30-foot birdie putt around two par saves for a 2under 70 that got him into a playoff, and then he beat the hard-luck McCarthy with a seven-foot par to win the Memorial.
His previous three wins were twice at Mayakoba on the Gulf coast of Mexico and once in Puerto Rico. This victory came on conditions so difficult that even Jack Nicklaus was stunned to feel how firm the greens were when he stepped on the 18th to congratulate Hovland.
“It feels really cool to get my first win on the U.S. soil, especially at a tournament like this where this the golf course is arguably harder than most major championship golf courses we play,” Hovland said.
It was a crushing loss for McCarthy, whose only bogey came on the 18th hole — twice. He had a oneshot lead when he missed the 18th fairway to the left, pitched out to the fairway and narrowly missed a 25-foot par putt for the win. In the playoff, his shot from the right rough rolled back off the green some 50 yards away. He pitched to 12 feet and the putt caught the left edge and spun away.
“I’m heartbroken right now,” McCarthy said, emotion in his voice after his closest call to win on the PGA Tour in his 156th attempt.