Back in mid-August, Michelle Zhang's CME ranking was a grim 160th. Q-School looked like a high probability for the 21-year-old LPGA rookie.
And then, a shift.
At the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, Zhang set a goal of not having to return to Stage II of Q-Series. She finished T-12, her best result of the year, and moved up to 126th in the Race to the CME Globe, the ranking that determines status for 2027. Players who finish in the top 100 of the CME points list keep a full card for the 2027 season.
The next week, on her first trip to Hawaii for the Lotte Championship, Zhang set a new goal: qualify for The Annika, the penultimate event of the season.
A T-5 on Oahu moved her up to 94th. While the field doesn't close until November, at the conclusion
of the fall Asian swing, Zhang's chances of getting into the Florida event are fairly high. She did not get into any of the four Asian events.
"I think the last two weeks definitely made my year," said Zhang, "and just super excited. Hopefully I'm in Annika so I have one more chance to see if I get into CME."
She'll need to move into the top 60 to qualify for the CME Group Tour Championship, where the winner receives $4 million.
Zhang was born in China but moved Texas with her family before eventually playing one full record-setting season at SMU. When she went into kindergarten back in China, her father gave her an English name inspired by Michelle Wie West, Zhang told SMUMustangs.com. Her brother was named after Justin Rose.
When Zhang qualified for the 2022 U.S. Women's Open at Pine Needles, she made sure to share the story with her namesake.
"I had someone come up to me at player dining today saying that they were named after me, so that made me feel really young," Wie West joked with the media ahead of her first retirement.
While the LPGA was off during the Solheim Cup, Zhang played two tournaments on the Epson Tour, finishing second at the Guardian Championship and taking a share of seventh at the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout.
The four-week stretch of events moved her from outside the top 500 in the world to No. 237. It greatly boosted her bank account, too. Coming into the Walmart event, Zhang had made $40,395 on the LPGA in 10 starts. Her season earnings to date: $204,669.
In Hawaii, Zhang was asked to grade her season thus far.
"I would say the last three weeks I would give myself an A, but then the beginning of the stretch I think it was a failing grade," she said. "I was just so nervous to be out here just playing with all the big names you see. I mean, I watched a bunch of golf growing up, and then just kind of playing with the people you see on TV just definitely gets a little bit nerve-wracking; kind of coming down the stretch actually feeling like I do belong and just playing my on game."
What led to the shift in mindset? Zhang said she felt like she had nothing to lose.
"Every week, every shot I'm just gaining something," she said. "My coach was telling me ... I think it was August when everyone was in Europe, and I wasn't in any of the Europe stretch. ... I was like, I'm not getting into any events. I'm super stressed out.
"He was like, 'Look at it this way. You have $1,000 to spend; you're at casino. You're down to your last $100. What's the harm to lose your last $100?' "
With possibly two more events left in 2026, she just might hit it big.
Beth Ann Nichols is a senior writer for Golfweek covering the LPGA and all things women's golf. Follow her on X/Twitter (@GolfweekNichols).
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: LPGA rookie named after Michelle Wie West making late-season surge to keep her card
