Rose Zhang wanted one last adrenaline rush before the 2026 Solheim Cup, but she kept it a secret from her Team USA teammates until it was over. Zhang revealed on Wednesday during a U.S. team press conference that she went skydiving last week. The 23-year-old did it just days before flying to Europe for this week’s Solheim Cup at Bernardus in Cromvoirt, Netherlands.
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“I did,” Rose Zhang said when asked directly whether she’d jumped out of a plane. The jump was part of a partnership with Red Bull and had actually been on the calendar since earlier in the year.
“It was a bit overdue because I was supposed to jump back in March. But it was the only off week that I had where I could essentially jump out of an airplane.” Teammate Andrea Lee, sitting beside Zhang at the podium, questioned the timing.
“Right before the Solheim, really, you wanted to risk it?” Lee asked. Zhang admitted she hadn’t looped in U.S. captain Angela Stanford beforehand.
“Yeah, I didn’t tell Angela this until after I jumped,” Zhang said. “I should have just texted in the group chat, ‘I landed.’ But we were also joking about it the previous week in Boston that if one of the Europeans came and drove the plane, it would not be good.”
Zhang was referring to the team’s stop the week prior at the FM Championship, where the skydiving plan had already become a running joke among the Americans. Once the jump itself was done, Zhang said there was little hesitation.
“It was extremely fun,” she said. “I personally am a bit of an adrenaline junkie, and so I enjoy roller coasters; I’m not scared of heights. It just felt fitting to do it right before a Solheim.”
This moment also shows how the U.S. team views Zhang. She said her teammates often treat her like the team’s younger sister rather than an experienced Solheim Cup player.
Zhang has played in two Solheim Cups and has a 4-2-1 record. At the 2024 Solheim Cup, she helped Team USA win the Cup back from Europe at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia. Since turning professional in 2023, Zhang has won twice on the LPGA Tour. She is also the first golfer to win her professional LPGA Tour debut since Beverly Hanson in 1951.
Jennifer Kupcho also joked about Zhang’s young image. She remembered playing alongside Zhang while wearing a microphone and said some of Zhang’s comments made her wonder if she had really graduated from Stanford.
Zhang admitted that being treated like the youngest member of the team has become a common joke. She said her teammates often see her as the “baby” of the group. Team USA enters this week’s event as the defending champion after beating Europe 15½-12½ in Virginia two years ago. A win at Bernardus would give the U.S. its fourth Solheim Cup victory on European soil. The Americans previously won in Wales in 1996, in Sweden in 2007, and in Germany in 2015.
Lee also pointed to that history, saying the team has new clothing this week that pays tribute to those two victories in Europe. Despite her strong Solheim Cup record, Zhang said she does not feel extra pressure because of her past success. Even though she is one of the more experienced players on the team at just 23, she still feels like the youngest player in the team room.
The 2026 Solheim Cup begins this week at Bernardus in the Netherlands. It will be the 20th edition of the competition between the United States and Europe.