Since he made history at the 2012 U.S. Open as the youngest competitor in his history of the Championship at the age of 14, he has been recognized more often at junior tournaments as players, parents, and fans alike have congratulated him and said hello which is a wonderful feeling. His coach Andrew Park has advised him to enjoy the moments but not forget to be a kid.
Zhang said that his strength is with his short iron approaches but his weakness in his short game. Park added that Zhang is a very long hitter but now that he has the ability to hit the ball a long way, he needs to be able to know how to shape the ball. If a long hitter can shape the ball, he or she will have more of the fairway available to them and various commentators made that point during the broadcast of The Open Championship last week.
Of all of the free stuff that he received during the U.S. Open, he enjoyed the Snickers candy bars the most because while he would usually have to pay $2.50 a piece for them, he could just go and get one anytime he wanted in the locker room. He was also able to get his laundry done and his shoes cleaned which was nice as well. It was also a great joy to meet the world’s best players including Luke Donald.
Park said that what is important when it comes to putting is getting the line and the speed right and no matter what kind of putter you use, you have to get those two things right. He will be interested to see in 10 years if many young players and tour players are still using the long putter. Zhang said that he tried a long putter for 2 months and a chest putter for 3 months with varying results but that he now uses a standard length putter.