Golf found the next Tiger Woods, but there's one hurdle that could take her down

• Rose Zhang has arrived with a level of hype and awe that had been reserved for Tiger Woods.
• Now comes the hard part — winning when it matters most.
• The 20-year-old American won her first tournament after turning pro and is a huge rising star. 

The Rose Zhang era in golf is here, but now comes the hard part — winning when it matters most.

Zhang didn't win this week's US Women's Open at Pebble Beach, finishing just inside the top 1o. Still, the headlines following the tournament made it clear how important the 20-year-old American is to the sport already.

"US Women's Open 2023: Allisen Corpuz clinches first career LPGA win, Rose Zhang finishes T9," declared the Athletic.

SBNation's headline: "Allisen Corpuz first American in 7 years to win US Women's Open, Rose Zhang another top-10."

There are a lot of stars on the men's side of the game, but none of them are garnering headline mentions for simply finishing in the top 10. Somebody who used to garner that type of attention? Tiger Woods.

Plenty of young golfers on the men's and women's sides have garnered the "next Tiger Woods" hype, only to stumble along the path. To keep that level of enthusiasm going, Zhang will need to win majors early and keep doing it often.

Even before turning pro, Zhang was being called "the Tiger Woods of women's golf." Her amateur career, including two years at Stanford, was arguably more impressive than Woods', who also competed for the Cardinal. Zhang also burst onto the LPGA scene, winning her first tournament as a professional, the first woman to accomplish that feat since 1951.

And then there was the viral video.

While practicing for the US Open at Pebble Beach, Zhang hit a tee shot, and the tee flew up and landed in her pocket. That might have been an incredible video for any golfer, but the general reaction to Zhang doing it was, "Of course it was Rose Zhang."

—Callaway Golf (@CallawayGolf) July 4, 2023

Zhang is already a star, and everything is already in place to take it to a level not seen since Woods. But she better start winning majors soon, or the average sports fan will look elsewhere, just ask Jordan Spieth and Michelle Wie West.

So in order to avoid the same fate and capitalize on the early buzz, Zhang will have to end up at the top of the leaderboard at the end of some majors. Thankfully, she's getting close. The US Open was Zhang's second top-10 finish in two majors since turning pro in May — she also tied for eighth in the Women's PGA Championship in June. And those came after winning her first tournament as a professional, the first woman to accomplish that feat since 1951. 

Convert a few of those opportunities and the "Tiger Woods of women's golf" moniker will be too limiting. She might become "The next Tiger Woods, period."