Where is Rose Zhang? Popular LPGA player taking extended break to focus on school

For the first time in her short LPGA career, Rose Zhang will skip the entire fall Asian swing. She is on the entry list, however, for The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, which takes place Nov. 13-16 in Belleair, Florida. The 22-year-old is now back in school at Stanford with a full slate of classes.

Currently 80th on the CME Race to the Globe standings, Zhang would need a big week at Pelican to push her way into the season-ending field in Naples, Florida. The top 60 on the points list advance to the CME Group Tour Championship.

Zhang, a two-time winner on the LPGA, plans to finish her degree in communications in March. In her rookie season, Zhang played in all four Asian events this time of year, and she played in two in 2024.

The two-time NCAA champion's entire pro career thus far has been a difficult balancing act between tour life and school. She'll miss a full two months of competition heading into The Annika.

The 2025 LPGA season has been a limited one for Zhang, who has made 13 starts. She took several months off at the beginning of the season – skipping the spring Asian swing – to focus on school. Then she missed the first major of the year, the Chevron Championship, due to recurring neck spasms. Toward the end of the 2024 season, she also dealt with a left hand injury.

"I think coming out of winter quarter I took 22 units; kind of took a toll on my body," Zhang told the press in late August at the FM Championship. "Then I had neck spasms on both sides of my shoulders, so as a result I was two months immobile, barely moving. Obviously that doesn't help your golf game because you can't even walk properly.

"But I will say like I think the patience and the dedication that it takes to come back from all that, and then also I expected myself to play really right out the bat of post injury. Obviously that's very unrealistic and kind of messes with the mental a little bit. That's kind of the struggle that I endured."

Zhang has a pair of top 10s on the season, with her best finish, a share of fifth, coming at the FM at TPC Boston. She most recently teed it up at the Kroger Queen City Championship in Ohio one month ago, where she missed the cut.

At this time last year, Zhang was fresh off a stellar Solheim Cup performance of 4-0-0 and ranked 12th in the world. She's now currently 55th.

"I would say this year is the first time I really hit a hard struggle bus in my entire golf career," said Zhang of 2025, "but I will say I think the success helps in that you know that it's in you, but it also might hinder your look to the present and the future just because you expect way too much out of yourself in your circumstance.

"So I think I'm navigating that, and it's helped me grow as a person and even as a player."