California

Zhang catapulted to No. 1 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking late in the summer when she defeated defending champion Gabriela Ruffels in the 36-hole championship match of the 120th U.S. Women’s Amateur, and then outdueled the Australian for low-amateur honors a month later in the ANA Inspiration. Zhang made a brilliant up-and-down par on the 36th hole to force extra holes and then won the match on the 38th hole. By being No. 1 in the WAGR, Zhang was awarded the McCormack Medal for 2020. In 2019, Zhang advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Girls’ Junior and helped the USA win a mixed team gold medal in the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. The Irvine, Calif., resident has signed to play for Stanford University in the fall of 2021.

Sam Choi, a sophomore on the University of New Mexico’s men’s golf team, has been named to the 2020 Arnold Palmer Cup International Team. Choi has had a terrific year already notching three top-5 finishes including a win at the John Burns Intercollegiate.

Since 1958, when the PGA switched to its current batting game format, the only player who is 50 or older and holds at least a share of the 36-hole lead is Sam Snead, who turned 54 in 1966. Aged 50 and over, it was Fred Couples at the 2013 Masters to secure a place in the top five by the 36 holes of a major championship. The oldest player to ever win a major is Julius Boros at the 1968 PGA Championship (48 years, 4 months, 18 days).

Xander Schauffele has demonstrated a feel for the majors, having logged seven career top-10 finishes, which includes a top-6 finish in all four U.S. Open appearances and a T2 at the 2019 Masters Tournament. That year Schauffele led the field with 25 birdies in what was just his third appearance at Augusta National, coming up one stroke behind eventual winner Tiger Woods. Schauffele, a 27-year-old from San Diego, is a remarkably consistent player who owns four PGA Tour titles and 10 runner-up finishes. He is coached by his father, Stefan, a one-time Olympic decathlete hopeful.