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The 20-year-old, who won her LPGA debut in
June, has set her sights on representing the United States in
the Solheim Cup this September in Spain. The Southern California
native and Stanford star already has experience representing her
country.
"It would be a dream just because ... I've played two Junior
Solheim Cups, one in Des Moines, Iowa, and one in Gleneagles
(Scotland)," Zhang said from Evian-les-Bains, France, in advance
of this week's Evian Championship. "Nothing is better than
representing your own country with amazing people, having
teammates to celebrate and enjoy playing for the honor of the
red, white and blue."
The sop seven players on the U.S. Solheim Cup points list make
the United States squad, but Zhang is 19th on that list. Zhang
is 35th in the Women's Golf Rankings, but only the top two from
that list are automatically qualified.
U.S. captain Stacy Lewis does have three selections to fill out
the roster and that is likely to be Zhang's best bet to make the
squad.
"I always loved team formats," Zhang said. "I will say that of
course it's (an honor) that a lot of people have to qualify for
this event, and the prestige is absolutely incredible. But I
don't really think about the (world) rankings a lot. I haven't
looked at it at all actually. I feel like if my game is there
... I'll be able to qualify."
Despite her youth, Zhang has shown the kind of composure needed
to perform well in a Solheim Cup. When she won the Mizuho
Americas Open last month, she did so on the second hole of a
sudden-death playoff against Jennifer Kupcho.
It was a historic trophy raising with Zhang becoming the first
player to win her LPGA Tour debut since Beverley Hanson in 1951.
This week will be Zhang's third appearance in the Evian
Championship. She finished tied for 58th in 2021 and was tied
for 65th last year. In majors this year, she finished tied for
eighth in the Women's PGA Championship and tied for ninth at
this month's U.S. Women's Open.
--Field Level Media
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