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Amateur Tours

Rose Zhang sets new record as the world’s leading amateur golfer

Rose Zhang of the United States of America today broke the record for the total number of weeks as the number one golfer in the women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

Zhang has now spent 136 weeks as the world’s leading women’s amateur golfer, surpassing the record total of 135 weeks set by Leona Maguire of Ireland in 2018.

The 19-year-old ascended to the number one position in WAGR for the first time in September 2020 and has gone on to beat Lydia Ko’s record of 130 consecutive weeks by remaining at the top of the ranking ever since.

Rose Zhang: “It’s an unbelievable honour”

“It’s an unbelievable honour and a testament to a lot of hard work not just by me but by my team as well. Passing names like Lydia and Leona on any list is incredible; they’ve both gone on to have such impressive professional careers and are great role models in golf. I’m grateful for all the support I’ve received and look forward to continuing to pursue my dreams in this game.”

“I want to congratulate Rose on this amazing achievement,” said Leona Maguire. “It takes so much hard work and determination to become the world’s number one amateur golfer and to consistently hold that position for a record-breaking number of weeks shows just how good a golfer Rose really is. She is a future star of the game.”

Zhang was awarded the Mark H McCormack Medal in 2020, 2021 and 2022 as the world’s leading women’s amateur golfer, joining Maguire and Ko as the only three-time recipients of the accolade.

Notable wins in this time include the recently held Augusta National Women’s Amateur, the 2022 NCAA Championship and US Women’s Amateur two years ago. Last year, she also won the Smyth Salver as the leading amateur at the AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield, finished T-11 at the Chevron Championship in 2020 and qualified for the 2019 US Women’s Open as a 16-year-old.


Professor Steve Otto, Chief Technology Officer at The R&A, said, “We would like to congratulate Rose on this record-breaking achievement at the highest level of women’s amateur golf, as well as her recent success at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. She has consistently delivered outstanding results for some time now and continues to show why she is so highly regarded in the sport. We look forward to seeing her compete in the AIG Women’s Open once more at Walton Heath this year.”

“Rose continues to build upon an exceptional amateur career, and all of us at the USGA would like to congratulate her on this incredible record-breaking achievement,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA chief championships officer. “She has become a role model to so many young girls around the world and has consistently performed at the highest levels. We know this is only the start of what will be a long and impactful career in the game.”
(Press Release by R&A)

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Amateur Tours

England Sweep the R&A Boys’ and Girls’ Home Internationals

England not only made history by winning the first ever combined team format for boys and girls in the R&A Home Internationals, they swept all three competitions, winning the combined event and the boys’ and girls’ competitions too.

England topped the combined final leaderboard with a perfect three points from three wins, Ireland was second with two points, Wales and Scotland took half a point each, with the Welsh side finishing third thanks to more matches won.

Already in pole position heading into the final day and just needing to defeat Scotland to top the points table, England made sure of victory right from the start with a 6-1 win in the foursomes. England then dominated the singles too with an 11-3 advantage to beat the home team 17-4.

“We got out fast today,” England captain Stephen Burnett said. “We changed things around for the foursomes and they smashed it this morning. They did this afternoon too. The team bats deeps, and in a way the format favours us because the more players there are the better it is for us, but they still had to go out there and do it. I couldn’t be prouder of them to win all three trophies. The team was fantastic, they prepared well, played well and it’s a great result.”

Ireland assured themselves of second place with a 12½-8½ win over Wales. The Welsh provided strong resistance early on by splitting the foursomes session 3½-3½. However, the Emerald Isle players proved too strong in head to head play, taking the singles 9-5.

“I couldn’t have asked for anything more from my players over the last three days, especially the last two,” Irish captain Peter English said.

“It was a fantastic performance. We’ve got quite a few debutants, players that are available next year and the year after. It shows we’re on the way up and we have a lot to build on for next year. We haven’t had the exposure for the last couple of years, and it’s critical they do get this exposure. It gives them important international experience for their development.”

Welsh skipper Llew Matthews also left Downfield feeling immensely proud of his team.
“We played well in the foursomes this week and this morning to split the session, but the Irish came out fighting this afternoon and played a lot of good golf,” the 2007 Walker Cup player said.

“We played good golf throughout the tournament which perhaps doesn’t show up in the scores, and I’m proud of them. There’s been great camaraderie, great togetherness. It’s been a great learning experience for them, and they have something to build on for the future.”

While it’s perhaps unfair to pick out one player from the 64 on show, one deserves special mention. Scotland’s Niall Shiels Donegan was the only player to emerge with a 100% record from his six matches.

“Niall was brilliant this week,” Scottish captain Susan Jackson said. “He’s been a real leader, he’s led the team, he’s confident and he’s had great team work with his team mates. To win six matches out of six is very impressive.”

The best juniors in Great Britain and Ireland will convene at Lindrick Golf Club, the 1957 Ryder Cup venue, for the 2023 R&A Boys’ and Girls’ Home Internationals.
Press Release by The R&A