Rose Zhang ends Round 3 at Paris Olympics with an eagle, keeps gold medal contention alive
Rose Zhang closed out a strong "Moving Day" performance at Le Golf National on Friday in grand fashion.
Following a tough double bogey on Hole 15 at Le Golf National that took herself out of a tie for first place on the leaderboard, the United States golfer ended her Round 3 at the 2024 Paris Olympics with an eagle on the challenging Par 5 18th hole.
Take a look at Zhang's shot that set up her eagle on the 18th hole, which put her at 7-under overall and tied for third on the leaderboard heading into Saturday's final round:
"I got nothin' to say to this one." - John Wood (@johnwould) 🇺🇸🤯
Rose Zhang hits an ELITE second shot to set up eagle on 18!
📺 Golf Channel and Peacock | #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/Kit0xwSXvF— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) August 9, 2024
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"I had 191 (yards) to the pin. It was honestly quite a heft six iron but the wind was helping me and I just thought, 'Okay let's just hit it on the left towards that 18 building and see where it goes from there'," Zhang told Golf Channel following her round on what her approach was on No. 18.
"It was such a good shot and I did not expect it to be that close."
Here's another look at Zhang's second swing that set up her eagle putt:
Another look at Rose Zhang’s remarkable second shot on the par 5 18th. 🤌🇺🇸
📺 Golf Channel and Peacock | #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/y48xNfgkyC— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) August 9, 2024
REQUIRED READING: Olympic golf leaderboard: Women's scores, live results from Round 3 at Le Golf National
It was the second eagle of the day for Zhang, who is ranked the No. 9 golfer in the world, as she hit a beautiful eagle putt on Hole 14.
Rose Zhang TIES THE LEAD (-7) with an exceptional eagle putt on 14! 🇺🇸🔥
📺 Golf Channel and Peacock | #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/DkloHLNHT5— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) August 9, 2024
At 7-under par, Zhang leads all Team USA members in the tournament, including reigning gold medalist and No. 1 golfer in the world Nelly Korda, who is three strokes back from Zhang at 4-under par and tied for seventh.
Zhang will now play for a chance to win her first Olympic medal on Saturday, where she will open up Saturday's round two strokes back from first place and gold. Saturday's Round 4 of women's golf at the Paris Games begins at 3 a.m. ET.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Team USA's Rose Zhang records an eagle on Hole 18 at Le Golf National