FORTINET FOUNDERS CUP

March 19, 2026

Rose Zhang

Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, here with Rose Zhang after the first round of the Fortinet Founders Cup. Talk about today and what was it like to be out there.

ROSE ZHANG: Felt like it was a game of patience today. I didn't really have any putts drop. I was burning some edges and felt like I found a little bit of momentum towards the end, so I'm taking a lot of positives.

But I felt like took a little bit of time for me to get adjusted and acclimated to playing golf again. But overall I'm actually very satisfied, even though score may not show as much.

Q. And off the golf course, I think some folks would like to know an update on the paper.

ROSE ZHANG: The paper is done, so...

I feel like it became 15 pages, including references, and images, so yeah, it was a long one.

Q. Did you finish it last night?

ROSE ZHANG: Yeah.

Q. How did it feel when you got done with it?

ROSE ZHANG: I mean, it was just -- today is just looking over, proofreading, and I'll submit.

Q. So you haven't submitted?

ROSE ZHANG: Haven't submitted but it's done. I'm just going to turn it in.

Q. So you're done?

ROSE ZHANG: Done, done.

Q. Is that crazy?

ROSE ZHANG: It is crazy. I honestly feel like it's a little bit anticlimactic because I'm playing golf. I haven't been doing as much of celebrating, but internally I do feel really good about it.

Q. We'll touch base after you submit it.

ROSE ZHANG: Yes.

Q. So the paper, help me out, I know final paper at Stanford.

ROSE ZHANG: Yeah, so it was my final paper. Fortunately I finished all my major classes so there was no need to take any finals, so I tried to go out of my way and find as many classes that did not require a final.

Beer brewing happened to be one of them. Honestly it was really interesting. Felt like I learned something niche, something new. I didn't know archeologists are that interested in grinding and mashing rice.

So overall, yeah, it was a great quarter.

Q. Is the quarter still going on?

ROSE ZHANG: This is finals week and we go into spring quarter. We have spring break and then everyone comes back for spring.

But I would say I always happen to go to the winter quarters just because of the LPGA schedule. The most fun quarters are usually spring. It's a bit unfortunate but it's okay. I'll be back.

Q. You're walking in June though?

ROSE ZHANG: I am walking in June.

Q. How does it feel to be back here playing in the Bay Area?

ROSE ZHANG: It required a little bit more patience than before. Required a little bit of grace to myself just because the golf club has not been in my hands pretty much at all the last week.

So it's been nice to just get some feels back again, and honestly I'm taking a lot of learning experiences. Trying to figure out what my tendencies are and then going from there.

Q. Have you played this course before?

ROSE ZHANG: I've played qualifying here freshman -- either freshman or sophomore year. Other than that, I remember playing nine just for fun. Haven't played since. I wouldn't say this is my home course.

Q. How long ago was that that you played nine just for fun?

ROSE ZHANG: That was probably last year or a year and a half ago.

Q. I know a lot of people have been talking about how great it is to have an LPGA event here in the Bay Area again.

ROSE ZHANG: Yes.

Q. What does this area mean to you, and is it important that there is an event here to represent the Bay Area?

ROSE ZHANG: I think it's -- in my opinion I think it's very important. I think every player, every caddie that I've seen, even the LPGA staff I've heard, just the area is beautiful and there is a lot of restaurants; people aren't stuck in homes. They're going out to eat, having fun with each other.

I feel like that's part of the Bay Area experience, is people can have really nice dinners and it's very chill. I personally, even though I'm from Southern California I would call this home. I would say in the future I would definitely like to stay here a little bit more.

Q. I know there are a lot of golfers on the Tour with Bay Area connections.

ROSE ZHANG: Yes.

Q. Feels like...

ROSE ZHANG: Definitely does. A lot of my friends, we're just ten minutes from campus so I was touring my caddie around and that's been really fun.