Rose Zhang of Irvine was selected 2019 Rolex Junior Player of the Year by the American Junior Golf Association.
The 16-year-old Zhang joined an impressive list of winners that includes Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Morgan Pressel, Paula Creamer, Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand and Inbee Park of South Korea.
Other Californians to win the award in recent years were Yealimi Noh in 2018, Andrea Lee in 2014, Alison Lee in 2013 and Kristen Park in 2010.
“The Rolex Junior Player of the Year award means the world to me,” Zhang said. “It is the highest achievement in junior golf, and I will feel extremely lucky to see my name next to some of the best in the game. I’ve played against amazing junior golfers from the United States and from around the world, and this award makes me extremely motivated to continue to play well and set goals.”
Zhang, who has committed to Stanford, did not finish outside the top three in any of the AGJA events she played this season and wound up No. 1 in the 2019 AGJA Rolex Rankings.
After finishing third in the ANA Junior Inspiration, Zhang tied for second in at the Thunderbird International Junior and successfully defended her title at the Swinging Skirts AJGA Invitational—her seventh national AJGA junior golf title.
Zhang, who is No. 23 in the Women’s World Amateur Rankings, also won the Toyota Junior World Cup, reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Girls’ Junior and helped the United States PING Junior Solheim Cup team to victory for the second time in Scotland.
A junior at Pacific Academy in Irvine, who finished eighth in the Pan American Games in Peru, was named to the AJGA Rolex Junior All-American team for the third straight year and fourth time overall.
Zhang also competed in the U.S. Women’s Open and Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship.
