HILTON GRAND VACATIONS TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

January 18, 2024

Rose Zhang

Lake Nona Golf & Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Here with Rose Zhang. Way to start out here at Lake Nona. Take us through your round and what was working so well.

ROSE ZHANG: Yeah, it was really great to be with Albert. He's a legend in his game. For me, I was just super inspired, just having a good time.

You know, never expected myself to be here, but I was able to just come here and have a good time.

Played well today with my irons working out really well. Was very consistent. Was like one driver that was a little bit off, but overall, very satisfied with how the game win the, especially with such a short off-season.

Q. I know you're a player that always likes to learn, pick brains. Did you ask Albert anything out there about being at the pinnacle of the game?

ROSE ZHANG: Yeah, well, personally I felt like it wasn't the time and place to exactly pick his brain, but I had some light talk with him, and just from how he carries himself I learned a lot.

He's always nicknamed The Machine and I could tell that he's definitely very in the moment. Even if he's not doing too well he's very level headed. Outside of golf he's very personable person, so -- and even baseball.

So, you know, just to be in that environment with him was really cool to see.

Q. You're a sports fan across the board?

ROSE ZHANG: I am a sports fan. Yeah, yeah, I'm from southern Cal -- I am from Irvine. He actually lived in Irvine for quite a bit.

For us to kind of like just bond over how I was in that area and watch the Dodgers, Angels growing up, it was really fun.

Q. Are you back on campus as Stanford?

ROSE ZHANG: Yes.

Q. What's the dorm like?

ROSE ZHANG: I'm not in a dorm. I'm with family friends just off campus, because I don't want to move back and forth all my stuff in ten weeks.

Q. Is it hard to switch on and off from being the full time student?

ROSE ZHANG: Just a little bit. It definitely takes a lot of discipline and a lot of balancing. I think these next couple weeks will be a good test for me, and this entire year as well.

Q. For you, on the golf course is probably a safe haven from the stress of school. What are you looking for from yourself this season? You talked about what you learned. From your golf game in particular what are you looking for?

ROSE ZHANG: Just good balance. Looking for grit, discipline. Really want to work on myself and how I carry myself on and off the golf course.

You know, it's just I think I became a little stagnant in my growth, and this year it's more so just every single day, finding some purpose to do stuff and to fulfill all my competitiveness, yeah.

Q. Any one part of your game you would like to dial up this year that could make a big leap?

ROSE ZHANG: Short game, putting. Putting, putting, putting. Yeah.

Q. What are you doing on the putting front?

ROSE ZHANG: Just have to practice more. I wasn't able to practice as much, wasn't able to be as focused. I think that giving myself the quiet time to do so will be very important.

Q. When you said you felt like you've been stagnant in your growth, what led you to that inclusion?

ROSE ZHANG: Well, it's a personal kind of -- I wouldn't say it's a diagnosis, but it's a personal thing that I wanted to expand on myself.

I felt like there was a lot happening and very forever grateful for being able to do so many different things, but at the same time, I was so much in a hurry and on the run that I wasn't able to fully immerse myself in doing better and looking for new ways to grow.

So I think it's more so just focusing on that.

Q. And you'll do that how?

ROSE ZHANG: I'll do that -- you know, I honestly don't know. It's just keeping my schedule simple. Keeping my mind clear. Knowing what my values are. I think faith has a lot to do with it. Just being grateful for everything while I'm doing everything that I'm doing.

Q. You talked about some of your peers at Stanford and some of the tall things they're doing, internships and jobs, what have you. Does that help push you?

ROSE ZHANG: 100%. Once I came back I realized how incredible they were in what they did. Of course it's not easy. Everyone is in their own struggle bus in their own right.

I think being able to be with them and grind with them really inspired me to push myself further. It was almost like I didn't know where to push myself. I think now it's kind of settling in on how I should grow.

Q. You didn't actually lose the putter.

ROSE ZHANG: No, I physically lost a putter. So my putter was -- my dad took the putter out of the bag. We hopped on a train in London. He left the putter on the train.

From then on, you know, even at AIG, I could not putt because the specs were wrong, putter was an inch shorter, wrong shaft, every weight was wrong, so I just did not know where the putter was going to go.

And then throughout the season obviously everyone is talking about my putting, how it low-key deteriorated. It was because it was hard for me to visualize the putts going in again.

Then Grant Thornton hit and then my putter, the one that was finally a replica of my previous one, it shed on me during travel and I didn't know, and so I finished the round. So I was like, okay, I can't look at this putter again. Let's start anew.

Q. Good call.

ROSE ZHANG: So we're slowly getting there. I think it's just very grateful for the experiences. Just reminds me to check, check, check.

Q. So it was in transit getting to the British Open that you lost the putter?

ROSE ZHANG: My dad was carrying it. He just left it there.

Q. Yeah.

ROSE ZHANG: It's probably on ebay. If it's not on ebay it's probably in someone else's hands. Especially probably a golf, English fanatic.

Q. Did it have your name on it?

ROSE ZHANG: No, it didn't. No. But it had an Evian...

Q. What was the model?

ROSE ZHANG: Odyssey Works putter.