PORTLAND CLASSIC

August 15, 2025

Rose Zhang

Columbia Edgewater Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Okay, here with Rose Zhang after her second round The Standard Portland Classic. Awesome round today. We were leaderboard checking you here. Can you just talk about how you played?

ROSE ZHANG: Honestly, I feel like today was a little bit refreshing. Hadn't had many highlights this year, but I just felt a little more comfortable out there with my swing. Was seeing some putts drop, which I feel like is always a confidence booster.

Overall, I felt like it was the first time where I kind of got some momentum and I felt really good.

Q. Yeah, and can you talk about in particular the front nine there and making the eagle on No. 9?

ROSE ZHANG: I honestly knew that I needed a really low score today to even have a chance to make the cut, so honestly that was kind of my objective out there. I felt like that's exactly what I did. The front nine I started getting some momentum and then managed to have some birdies on the par-5s, which is always really, really good.

And then I think it's a little -- it's a lot bit of luck out there. I holed out on 9, so arms in the air. (Indiscernible).

Q. I was going to say, did you see it go in?

ROSE ZHANG: I did see it go in. I just thought it was like around the vicinity of the pin. It's all luck at that point.

Q. You said a little bit after yesterday's round. How did you regroup? Any specific conversations or things you worked on in your swing to get ready for today?

ROSE ZHANG: It's been very grueling I think in the past couple events, but I had a couple talks with my coach, Todd Anderson, and he's always been very positive. But we've always -- I think right now we're on the trajectory of wanting to better my game and having solid game plan for when I go back to school as well.

I feel like a lot of intuitive feeling I gained from playing in previous years kind of halted a little bit when I won't back winter quarter this year. So post-injury I'm just very happy that I can still play a good round out there.

Q. And can you talk about your putting as well? Had a good putting number looks like out there; 28 putts right now. Can you just speak a little bit, anything in particular you've been working on there maybe?

ROSE ZHANG: I've honestly just been keeping it very simple going back to the fundamentals. I personally feel like I could get a little bit better at being comfortable out there, but honestly the pace work has been great. This week I have a new putter in the bag so it's just a small adjustment from what I had previously. Just a shaft change, so there is a little bit of a weight difference.

Other than that, I've put in a lot of hours out here, and I'm going to continue to do so.

Q. There were a couple players talking about switching putters and how hard that is to do sometimes and make that confident switch. Is that how you felt with it, or was it pure numbers?

ROSE ZHANG: I mean, this year I've had a couple putters which is -- actually probably one other putter switch. Switched to a mallet for a time being.

Honestly it's just a lot of players out here probably want a fresh look and that's kind of what I was seeking. Just wanted to do anything to have a little bit of feel out there. So I'm very grateful that I had some (indiscernible) and good putts out there.

Q. Lastly, too, a lot of those holes are daunting when you look at them with the trees lining. How do you think you maybe approached it yesterday versus today, the difference in score, how maybe you saw it?

ROSE ZHANG: Honestly I feel like I saw it all the same. I actually hit 14 fairways yesterday, so I don't think many players out here can say the same. I also did shoot over par, so it's a funny game. You could have your best stuff from tee box to fairway to green and results really don't show when you have a couple huge mistakes.

I think the biggest thing is I started off really poorly yesterday and I was just finding my way back from there, so it was nice to start off better.