The eyes are on Rose Zhang right now at the Paris Olympics. You might think it’s because she finished her second round and is now leading the charge with a total of 142, 7-under-par. It is, yes! But that’s not the only reason the golfer is drawing attention. She’s also wearing dark shades while teeing off at Le Golf National, leaving people wondering about the reason behind it.

The 21-year-old has already talked about her reason last year in August. It is because her father is concerned about her health and advised her to wear these shades. Zhang said, “My dad always wanted me to wear sunglasses. He would always threaten me to basically just wear sunglasses. Otherwise, I would be blind by the time I was 25 years old,” she said jokingly. “I reluctantly did wear it. I wore it for a tournament or two,” as revealed on Fox Business.

Other than that the golfer has also been dealing with a lot of stress while pursuing professional golf as well as managing her studies at the Standford College. So, it’s reasonable for her father to be concerned about his daughter. After considering these dark shades she started to feel better and said “They were not only really lightweight. I found myself actually feeling better after the rounds.” While mentioning the headaches the 21-year-old further added “I didn’t have a lot of headaches anymore. So, when I went into college, it just became my sort of style.” However, despite the struggle, she appreciates the opportunity and is fixated on completing her graduation.

Although Rose Zhang isn’t exactly a fan of wearing glasses, her father’s concerns and the benefits she received led her to start wearing them. Interestingly, she has been a brand ambassador for Uswing, an eyewear technology company, since 2023. Along with Zhang, C.T. Pan, and Phil Mickelson also represent the brand. She also launched a limited edition Uswing glasses that retails for $699.

Zhang feels honored to be associated with Uswing, especially considering such prominent pros are tied to the brand. Regardless of struggles, the golfer is at the Paris Olympics. Expressing her excitement to fulfill the patriotic dream, she said, “It’s the greatest honor to represent your country.” But what about her academics? How’s she managing both?

“It’s been pretty difficult” for Rose Zhang

Since her debut at the 2023 Mizuho Americas Open, Zhang has always been open about everything she plans on doing. Be it managing college life while juggling the LPGA Tour or targeting graduation, she has talked about her struggles and stress to manage both and said, “Even though I feel strongly to finish both and do it in a really high-achieving way, sometimes it’s a little difficult to be able to balance your timing with your rest and be able to focus on both ends,” back in May this year.

However, now the golfer is taking a relaxed approach and plans to graduate in 2026 or 2027. Not only that, she is also considering little breaks between her coursework and classroom work. While talking about it, the 21-year-old recently said, “It’s been pretty difficult; I’m taking a little bit of a break—a leave of absence—because there’s a lot happening in the golf world,” and it’s clearly taking a significant toll on her body, and she’s managing with just 4-5 hours of sleep each night.

What do you think about Rose Zhang and her ways of managing both professional golf and her career? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!