Win the championship on your debut! When a rose blooms, will her thorns seal her throat with blood like a tiger's sharp teeth?

Zhang Siyang is used to being the terminator of historical records.

She is the only woman to be ranked number one in the amateur world for 114 consecutive weeks; the only Stanford alumnus (regardless of gender) to have won 12 golf tournaments; the only woman to have won multiple NCAA Division I titles; Today, she is the first woman in 72 years to make her career debut.

At the LPGA Mizuho Bank Americas Open, Zhang Siyang shouldered immeasurable expectations. In the first three rounds, she established a two-shot lead. In the final round, in the extended round, she defeated Jennifer Capuch by two holes. The way she achieved victory was as remarkable as the results she achieved.

Just two months ago, Zhang Siyang had just won the women's amateur championship at Augusta; She had just won her second NCAA championship trophy just two weeks ago; Just 11 days ago, she had just celebrated her 20th birthday; Only nine days ago, she announced her official conversion to professional golf. She beat 7 of the world's top 10 players, and the public already seems to be salivating over what might happen in the future.

Even before the final round kicked off, the Chinese-American girl who grew up in Southern California was already known as the "Man of Destiny." Golf Channel commentator Blandle Chambley makes no secret of his excitement, "Overwhelming hype comes with greatness. You hate to pile up all this hype on her, but it's not unfounded. What she accomplished is unprecedented. You can safely call her the greatest amateur of all time, and in her first week as a pro, she was at the top of the scoreboard. ”

He was beaming and radiant when he said this. This doesn't seem surprising considering that Zhang set an NCAA single-season record with an average of 68.7 per game this year. And, her performance in the first three rounds is so calm and poised that your brain can quickly draw a conclusion that she may be a brilliant genius with the ability and temperament to propel the sport forward.

In recent years, the LPGA has made narrowing the pay gap between it and the PGA a a priority. The New York Times reported last year that the total prize money for the PGA Tour increased from $367 million previously to $427 million in 2022, almost five times the total prize money for the LPGA.

The public and the spotlight are snobbish, and they love dominance. Admitting this may take a slow process, but it will inevitably come. Individual or team, male or female, young or old... None of this matters, greatness is like a magnet. We saw this in women's golf in 1978, when Nancy Lopez won five consecutive championships, for a total of nine titles, and she was named LPGA Rookie of the Year, Player of the Year and Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year. She also won the Vare trophy, which had the lowest average stroke of the season, and was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

We see this in Annika Thurenstein too. She has won a total of 72 LPGA tournaments during her career, including 10 Grand Slams. In 2003, she achieved a career Grand Slam. She also won the Player of the Year award a record 8 times and the Vare trophy 6 times, paving the way for interest in women's sports. The LPGA has been gaining momentum in recent seasons, with the Tour announcing last year that it would add two new events and add prize money to the nine existing events.

If Zhang Siyang is truly an unearthly genius, she can help attract more audiences, especially to increase the popularity of golf among young people. This, in turn, will increase revenue from television rights and expand the prize pool for tournaments.

She expressed her interest in being a role model for young people. She participated in the LPGA Mizuho Bank Americas Open with a group of young people. Over the course of four days, 24 top golfers from the Junior Golf Association of the United States competed alongside professional golfers.

Some privately said that Zhang Siyang was exaggerated. They think she's a very good player, but stress that the competition on tour is fierce these days and no one can dominate for long. They point out that some players of Zhang Siyang's age have been playing professionally for several years. Time will tell if they are right, but Zhang Siyang has made it clear that she will not back down in the face of challenges.

She could have lost decently at Augusta and wasted a five-shot lead on Saturday. Instead, she calmed down and beat Jenny Bae in the extended round. She struggled again in the final round last weekend, with a bogey-free performance in the third round giving her a two-shot lead, but she swallowed the bogey twice, including missing a putt on the 18th hole. If this putt is successfully completed, she does not need to participate in the extended race to lift the trophy.

No panic. She poised on the first hole of the extra hole, and on the second hole she scored roughly the same yardage in the putt position she had just missed, thus pocketing the victory. Zhang Siyang's performance on this hole was not perfect, and although the little white ball went to the fairway, it was not far enough (the kick-off distance was 180 yards, 34 yards farther than Jennifer Capuch's ball). Next, she delivered a beautiful shot and the ball landed near the flagpole, and the pressure went entirely to Jennifer Capuch. The latter's ball rolled straight from behind the green.

After two putts, Zhang won and became the first female player to win the championship on her career debut since Beverley Hansen in 1951.

"To be honest, I didn't even think I would make the cut. I say this because I haven't given much thought to my expectations. I just want to play and do my best to get the best result I can. Zhang Siyang said.

"Obviously, I was frustrated and disappointed during the game. But I never thought about where it was going to end and what kind of results I was going to have. So, in the back of my head, I didn't even think I would win. I was just enjoying the sport of golf and having a lot of fun. It's a sport I've loved and now I'm grateful to have become a professional golfer. ”

She may not focus on the ethereal expectations that exist. How she handles these issues will ultimately determine what impact she has on the sport.