LOTTE CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY HOAKALEI

October 2, 2026

Michelle Zhang

Hoakalei Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Okay, we are pleased to be joined by Michelle Zhang after her second round of the 2026 LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei. Michelle, five birdies on your back nine; was there anything in particular that you took advantage of in the back nine maybe compared to the front nine?

MICHELLE ZHANG: I feel like on the front nine I hit a lot of great shots and I was by the hole -- I was like 15 feet, ten feet by the hole and kept on leaving my putts short.

On the back nine the one goal is to get it to the hole and then I start making putts.

Q. And then two great rounds of golf so far here. How important is it to just be playing solid golf in this important stretch ahead of the Asia Swing?

MICHELLE ZHANG: I mean, I'm super excited. I'm not in any of the Asia stretch, so it's kind of like this is my last chance to get into Pelican.

I'm not trying to set my goal up super high and I've been having a good stretch so far and then just one shot at a time and having fun out there.

Q. Yeah, kind of brings me to my next question as well. Obviously this is your rookie season. How would you assess your rookie season so far this year on Tour?

MICHELLE ZHANG: I mean, I would say the last three weeks I would give myself an A, but then the beginning of the stretch I think it was a failing grade. I was just so nervous to be out here just playing with all the big names you see. I mean, I watched a bunch of golf growing up, and then just kind of playing with the people you see on TV just definitely gets a little bit nerve-wracking; kind of coming down the stretch actually feeling like I do belong and just playing my on game.

Q. Is there anything that led you to change your mindset there, or just in general maybe a physical feature about your game that you changed just to be overall feeling pretty good?

MICHELLE ZHANG: I would just say like because for me, where I'm sitting on the CME I have nothing no lose. Every week, every shot I'm just gaining something. My coach was telling me like kind of -- it was in August. That was when -- I think it was August when everyone was in Europe and I wasn't in any of the Europe stretch. He was telling me it's kind of like -- I was like, I'm not getting into any events. I'm super stressed out.

He was like, look at it this way. You have a thousand dollars to spend you're at casino. You're down to your last hundred. What's the harm to lose your last $100?

Q. Definitely. That's such a good little acronym. Obviously you mentioned you're playing such big-name players. Have any piece of advice that maybe stuck with you here being a rookie obviously that you have just been taking along with you?

MICHELLE ZHANG: I would just say because I have a really good team and I have my manager who's really experienced and I have my college coach kind of coming out with me sometimes, and my swing coach. Like he's been like out here like on the PGA, LPGA with so many players. I've been really just kind of trusting him a little bit because like I'm a little lost and I kind of want someone that's a little bit more experienced.

Just kind of being like hey I'm a rookie and there is nothing to lose.