When she won the Cognizant Founders Cup on Sunday, Rose Zhang said she’d been taking inspiration from none other than Scottie Scheffler, who has been winning consecutive tournaments seemingly with ease in recent months.
And while this week at the Mizuho Americas Open felt like a victory lap as she entered the event as the reigning champion, the party didn’t last long.
Zhang played just three holes on Thursday and then was forced to withdraw from the field, according to Grant Boone of NBC Sports and the co-host of Golfweek’s Big Pickle podcast.
Rose Zhang’s first LPGA title defense ends after just 3 holes. She has withdrawn from @MizuhoLPGA because of an illness.
Tough break for last week’s winner and the winner here last year in her professional debut.
— Grant Boone (@grantboone) May 16, 2024
Zhang vaulted up 16 spots in the Rolex Rankings after her victory at the Cognizant, cracking the top 10 for the first time. Now No. 6 in the world, the 20-year-old Zhang is in position to snag a spot on Team USA for the Paris Olympics.
Zhang spent 141 weeks as the No. 1 amateur in the world, which is where she sat one year ago as a Stanford sophomore.
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