Zhang, who had been the undisputed No. 1 player in the Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking since her triumph over Gabriela Ruffels in the 2020 U.S. Women's Amateur, won in her professional debut on June 4 just nine days after making the announcement that she was leaving Stanford and joining the play-for-pay ranks. Zhang, the first player to win an LPGA Tour event in her pro debut since Beverly Hanson in 1951, defeated 2018 USA Curtis Cup competitor Jennifer Kupcho on the second playoff hole to capture the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, N.J. This came just under two weeks after becoming the first player to win multiple NCAA Division I women's individual titles. Zhang, whose second LPGA Tour triumph came in the Cognizant Founders Cup in mid-May, had spent a record 141 consecutive weeks atop the Women's Amateur Golf Ranking. Later in 2023, Zhang represented the United States in the Solheim Cup in Spain. This will be her sixth consecutive start in the U.S. Women's Open, and second as a professional. Zhang surpassed Leona Maguire for the most weeks ever in the top spot in the WAGR on April 19. In 2021, Zhang won the U.S. Girls' Junior to become the eighth player to have won both the U.S. Women's Amateur and U.S. Girls' Junior titles, but the first to capture the latter second. On April 1 of 2023, she defeated Jenny Bae in a two-hole, sudden-death playoff at the Augusta National Women's Amateur. In the fall of 2022, she won the McCormack Medal as the No. 1 player in the WAGR for a third consecutive season. In her freshman season at Stanford University (2021-22), she helped the Cardinal to the team NCAA title at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. She also was named the Annika Award winner for 2022 as the nation's top female collegiate golfer, becoming the second consecutive freshman from Stanford (Rachel Heck) to achieve that feat. She finished her Stanford career (two seasons) with a school-record (men and women) 12 wins, surpassing Tiger Woods, Patrick Rodgers and Maverick McNealy. Zhang went 4-0-1 for the USA in the 2021 Curtis Cup Match at Conwy Golf Club in Wales, leading the side to a 12.5-7.5 victory to retain the Cup. She then helped the USA retain the Cup at Merion Golf Club a week after the 2022 U.S. Women's Open at Pine Needles. In 2019, Zhang helped the USA win a mixed team gold medal in the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.
