Rose Zhang Into Automatic Solheim Cup Spots After Just Three Starts

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 12 July 2023

Rose Zhang turned professional with plenty of lofty expectations but she continues to exceed them, including now playing her way into an automatic Solheim Cup spot after just three events as a professional.

The 20-year-old amateur sensation made an immediate impact in the paid ranks by winning her first tournament as a professional - becoming the first player to win on her LPGA debut since 1951.

She's since played in the KPMG Women's PGA Championship and US Women's Open and recorded top 10 finishes in both as she continues to take the golfing world by storm.

Those performances have not only seen her shoot up into No.37 in the Rolex World Rankings, but also climb into ninth spot in the Team USA Solheim Cup standings.

US Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis had been talking glowingly about Zhang being on her radar for future events, but now she's playing her way into a spot for the trip to Spain this year.

Zhang has been near the top of many a list for Lewis to consider for a captain's pick, but with qualifying having just over a month left then she may yet be an automatic qualifier.

Her top 10 at Pebble Beach at the US Women's Open lifted Zhang above both Angel Yin and Cheyenne Knight in the world rankings as one of the top two US players on the Rolex World Rankings not already qualified based on LPGA Solheim Cup points.

To be in this position after just three starts, albeit two in Majors, just shows the talent level Zhang brings to the table and why Lewis was already considering her for the team.

Lewis, like many, felt that 2024 would be a more likely target, but Zhang has perhaps already done enough to earn a spot on the tea regardless of where she ends up in the standings.

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Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.

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