Unlike the 2023 and 2024 seasons, in 2025, Rose Zhang didn’t want to juggle her education with playing golf. So, Zhang decided to step back from the LPGA Tour for 55 days, a decision that received both praise and criticism. But if you ask her, the 22-year-old remains only proud of her choice. And coming into the Fortinet Founders Cup 2026 this week, she has once again confirmed that.

“Honestly, I think this was probably one of the most important achievements for my personal development as a person. I feel like there is obviously a lot of noise about whether it was a good decision or not. Personally, I think when I turned pro at the end of my sophomore year,” Zhang told the media.

“I’ve always envisioned wanting to finish, regardless of how difficult it would be, regardless of how much my body would break down, or, feasibility-wise, how that would work. Never really gave it a second thought.”

Zhang, who spent a record 141 weeks at the top of the World Amateur Golf Rankings for women, won her professional debut at the Mizuho Americas Open in 2023 as the first player in 72 years to do so. During that rookie season, she played in 13 LPGA events, making 11 cuts and 4 top-10 finishes, including three in major championships. In 2024, she continued her ascent, playing 21 events while making 16 cuts. She won the Cognizant Founders Cup and surprisingly stopped a prime Nelly Korda’s five-tournament winning streak.

However, as the pressure increased during her collegiate career, Zhang decided she could no longer juggle the intense demands of on-course and off-course life simultaneously. In 2025, she played in only 14 events and made only 7 cuts, half of her total starts, compared to her much higher success rates in 2023 (11 of 13, ~85%) and 2024 (16 of 21, ~76%). The physical toll of managing both at the same time resulted in neck spasms on both sides of her shoulders, leaving her unable to practice or play for nearly two months.

Life as a communication major at Stanford University is anything but smooth. She also had to manage the extra pressures of a heavier course load of 22 units, including classes on deliberative democracy, Hebrew-Jewish literature, sleep and dreams, politics of algorithms, and science, tech, and society.

“So it was a big personal journey for me. I think when things get really tough, and you’re situated with 60 hours a week of class and work on top of sponsor days and traveling, and still trying to practice for tournaments, I think the balance is very difficult. I had to learn what was the limit for me and what works best with having a really difficult schedule like that,” Zhang shared.

Zhang has had a similar opinion in the past while detailing her break. Still, Zhang was far from the only player to follow this pathway. Many others, like So Yeon Ryu, Annika Sörenstam, Michelle Wie West, and Stacy Lewis, have navigated a similar path.

Ryu won the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open while attending classes full-time at Yonsei University. And Michelle Wie West earned her Stanford communications degree in 2012 while playing professionally. Some of the professionals, including Rory McIlroy, Nelly Korda, and Charley Hull, even go further by skipping college to play golf. But Zhang has her own priorities.

But now, as she nears the completion of her degree in June 2026, Zhang is preparing to sit with the reality of being a full-time professional athlete without any other commitment.

“These last two, three weeks was when I had to sit with the fact that I will be Rose the golfer [now],” Zhang said. “I think for a long time I was always one foot into academia and one foot into the professional world and actually playing, but I’ve never really thought of myself as two feet into the pro career. I’m not sure how it will turn out. I’m excited to see where it goes. If it’s something that I’m still extremely passionate about, I’m 100 percent going to dive all in. This whole year really in my opinion, will be my first official rookie year.”

However, despite taking a break from the LPGA, Rose Zhang has still found time to play.

Zhang spent time with golf influencer Gabriella DeGasperis

Around the end of the last season, after playing the Grant Thornton Invitational, Zhang was seen playing with golf influencer Gabriella DeGasperis. During that round, she attempted a trick shot to fly the ball over DeGasperis’s head into a hole behind her. Though Rose Zhang struck the shot with full confidence, the ball came dangerously close to DeGasperis’ face, causing the influencer to fall backward out of fear. Once it was clear that no injuries had occurred, both burst out laughing.

DeGasperis said, “I swear, I thought I was dead… I was so scared,” while Zhang could not control her laughter.

The past year was quite rough for Zhang as she dealt with her neck injury and school. She even missed the chance to qualify for the CME Group Tour Championship because of her long study breaks. However, her recent practice sessions show that she is not losing her touch. Rose arrives at the Fortinet Founders Cup as the defending champion and, after playing only one event so far during the 2026 season, the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, where she ended with a T9 (-3) finish.