Lilia Vu

Last updated

Lilia Vu
Personal information
Full nameLilia Kha-Tu Du Vu
Born (1997-10-14) October 14, 1997 (age 27)
Fountain Valley, California, U.S.
Height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Sporting nationalityFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Career
College UCLA
Turned professional2019
Current tour(s) LPGA Tour (joined 2019)
Former tour(s) Symetra Tour
Professional wins8
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour5
Ladies European Tour1
Epson Tour3
Best results in LPGA major championships
(wins: 2)
Chevron Championship Won: 2023
Women's PGA C'ship T2: 2024
U.S. Women's Open T34: 2022
Women's British Open Won: 2023
Evian Championship T26: 2024
Achievements and awards
Pac-12 Conference Freshman of the Year2016
Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year2018
WGCA Player of the Year2018
Potawatomi Cup2021
Symetra Tour Player of the Year 2021
Rolex Annika Major Award 2023
LPGA Tour
Player of the Year
2023
LPGA Tour
Money Winner
2023

Lilia Kha-Tu Du Vu (born October 14, 1997) is an American professional golfer and LPGA Tour player. In 2023, she rose to number one in the Women's World Golf Rankings and became LPGA Tour Player of the Year after winning four titles, including two majors at the 2023 Chevron Championship and 2023 Women's British Open. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life, college and amateur career

Vu was born and raised in Fountain Valley, California. Her parents are both first-generation Vietnamese immigrants. [3] She began playing golf at age 7 after watching her brother and father at the driving range. [4] Vu was the winner of the 2013 AJGA Junior at Robinson Ranch, the CIF-WSCGA Championship in 2014, and the 2016 SCGA Women's Amateur. She placed second at the Canadian Women's Amateur in 2017. [5]

Vu enrolled at UCLA in 2015. As a UCLA Bruin, she was awarded 2016 Pac-12 Conference Freshman of the Year, and in 2018 she was WGCA Player of the Year, Pac-12 Conference Golfer of the Year, and Honda Award finalist. She was also three-time WGCA First Team All-American and All-Pac 12 performer, and ranked first on the all-time UCLA career victory list with eight individual titles. [5]

Vu made a series of successful appearances for the U.S. national team and won the 2018 Curtis Cup, earning four points, and won the 2018 Espirito Santo Trophy in Ireland with Jennifer Kupcho and Kristen Gillman. She also won the 2018 Arnold Palmer Cup at Evian Resort Golf Club in France. Vu played in the U.S. Women's Open and the ANA Inspiration as an amateur, and at the 2018 ANA Inspiration she was the low amateur with a score of 285 (−3). [6] She was number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for a total of 31 weeks in 2018 and 2019. Her reign ended when she turned professional in January 2019. [7]

Professional career

Vu turned professional in January 2019 and finished T27 at the inaugural LPGA Q-Series to earn status for the 2019 LPGA Tour, where she made one cut in nine starts. [1]

In 2021, Vu won three titles on the Symetra Tour and rose into the top 250 in the Women's World Golf Rankings for the first time. [8] In addition to winning the Garden City Charity Classic, the Twin Bridges Championship and the Four Winds Invitational, she also collected the 2021 Potawatomi Cup and bonus prize money. [9] [10] She finished the season first on the money list, winning Symetra Tour Player of the Year honors and earning her LPGA Tour card for 2022. [11]

2023: World No. 1, two times major title

Vu beat Angel Yin in a playoff to win her first major at the 2023 Chevron Championship. [2] She took her second major with a six shot victory over Charley Hull at the 2023 Women's British Open. [12] The win moved her to number 1 in the Women's World Golf Rankings. [13]

2024: Injury and comeback

On March 8, 2024, Vu withdrew from the Blue Bay LPGA after a back injury. She returned to competition in June at the Meijer LPGA Classic. [14] [15]

Amateur wins

Source: [6]

Professional wins (8)

LPGA Tour wins (5)

Legend
Major championships (2)
Other LPGA Tour (3)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-upWinner's
share ($)
1Feb 26, 2023 Honda LPGA Thailand 66-70-66-64=266−221 stroke Flag of Thailand.svg Natthakritta Vongtaveelap 255,000
2Apr 23, 2023 Chevron Championship 68-69-73-68=278−10Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Angel Yin 765,000
3Aug 13, 2023 AIG Women's Open [1] 72-68-67-67=274−146 strokes Flag of England.svg Charley Hull 1,350,000
4Nov 12, 2023 The Annika 67-66-62-66=261−193 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Alison Lee
Flag of Spain.svg Azahara Muñoz
487,500
5Jun 16, 2024 Meijer LPGA Classic 69-70-68-65=272−16Playoff Flag of Australia (converted).svg Grace Kim
Flag of the United States.svg Lexi Thompson
450,000

1 Co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour.

LPGA Tour playoff record (2–2)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
12023 Chevron Championship Flag of the United States.svg Angel Yin Won with birdie on first extra hole
22023 Buick LPGA Shanghai Flag of the United States.svg Angel Yin Yin won with birdie on first extra hole
32024 Meijer LPGA Classic Flag of Australia (converted).svg Grace Kim
Flag of the United States.svg Lexi Thompson
Won with birdie on third extra hole
42025 Ford Championship Flag of South Korea.svg Kim Hyo-joo Kim won with birdie on first extra hole

Symetra Tour wins (3)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
1May 2, 2021 Garden City Charity Classic −8 (69-70-69=208)1 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Beth Wu
2Jul 25, 2021 Twin Bridges Championship −8 (70-67-68=205)2 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Rachel Rohanna
3Aug 15, 2021 Four Winds Invitational −12 (68-69-67=204)2 strokes Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Ruixin Liu

Results in LPGA majors

Wins (2)

YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up
2023 Chevron Championship 4 shot deficit−10 (68-69-73-68=278)Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Angel Yin
2023 Women's British Open Tied for lead−14 (72-68-67-67=274)6 strokes Flag of England.svg Charley Hull

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order.

Tournament201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Chevron Championship T46T40LACUT 1 78
U.S. Women's Open CUTT34CUTCUT
Women's PGA Championship T10CUTT2CUT
The Evian Championship NTCUTT42T26CUT
Women's British Open T41 1 T2CUT
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
NT = no tournament
T = tied

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Chevron Championship 10011154
U.S. Women's Open 00000041
Women's PGA Championship 01012242
The Evian Championship 00000042
Women's British Open 11022243
Totals2204552112

LPGA Tour career summary

YearTournaments
played
Cuts
made*
Wins (Majors)2nd3rdTop
10s
Best
finish
Earnings
($)
Money
list rank
Scoring
average
Scoring
rank
2019 920000T723,83017674.88n/a
2020 Did not play
2021 Did not play
2022 242200383918,9393070.2020
2023 19154 (2)10713,502,303169.813
2024 1816120412,088,335870.4813
Totals^70555 (2)331916,513,40762

^ Official as of 2024 season [16] [17] [18]
*Includes matchplay and other tournaments without a cut.

World ranking

Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.

YearRankingSource
2014548 [19]
2015921 [20]
2016n/a [21]
2017n/a [22]
2018623 [23]
20191,007 [24]
2020n/a [25]
2021244 [26]
202243 [27]
20231 [28]
20245 [29]

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

Professional

Solheim Cup record

YearTotal
matches
Total
W–L–H
Singles
W–L–H
Foursomes
W–L–H
Fourballs
W–L–H
Points
won
Points
%
Career82–5–11–0–11–2–00–3–02.531.3
2023 41–3–01–0–0 def. M. Sagström 4&30–1–0 lost w/ J. Kupcho 2&10–2–0 lost w/ L. Thompson 1 dn
lost w/ D. Kang 2&1
1.025.0
2024 41–2–10–0–1 halved w/ A. Valenzuela 1–1–0 won w/ S. Schmelzel 3&2
lost w/ S. Schmelzel 4&3
0–1–0 lost w/ A. Corpuz 1 dn1.537.5

References

  1. 1 2 "Lilia Vu Bio". LPGA Tour. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Lilia Vu wins Chevron Championship in playoff for first major". ESPN. Associated Press. April 23, 2023.
  3. Quinn, Brendan. "An escape, a shot in the dark, a legacy: Here is Olympian Lilia Vu". The New York Times.
  4. "Lilia Vu Returns to the LPGA Tour Mentally Stronger". LPGA. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  5. 1 2 "Women's Golf Roster: Lilia Vu". UCLA Bruins. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Lilia Kha-Tu Vu". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  7. "The Women – Performances of the week – Kupcho moves back to number one". World Amateur Golf Ranking. January 23, 2019.
  8. "Lilia Vu". Women's World Golf Rankings. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  9. Hudson, Melissa (August 16, 2021). "Lilia Vu wins Four Winds Invitational". ABC57. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  10. "In The Winner's Circle With Lilia Vu - Four Winds Invitational". Symetra Tour. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  11. "Symetra Tour Championship Final Round News and Notes". Symetra Tour. October 10, 2021. Archived from the original on October 11, 2021.
  12. "American Lilia Vu wins Women's Open for 2nd major in 2023". ESPN. Associated Press. August 13, 2023.
  13. "Lilia Vu rises to No. 1 in women's world golf rankings". ESPN. Reuters. August 14, 2023.
  14. Imran, Khambe Huda (May 7, 2024). "LPGA Injury Update: Lilia Vu Quits Blue Bay Event Despite Confirming Illness Recovery". EssentiallySports.
  15. Root, Alison (June 12, 2024). "'You Take Golf For Granted And Then Hit A Wall' - Former World No.1 Lilia Vu On Her Comeback After Injury". Golf Monthly.
  16. "Lilia Vu stats". LPGA. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  17. "Lilia Vu results". LPGA. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  18. "Career Money". LPGA. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  19. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 29, 2014.
  20. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 28, 2015.
  21. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 26, 2016.
  22. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 25, 2017.
  23. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 31, 2018.
  24. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 30, 2019.
  25. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 28, 2020.
  26. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 27, 2021.
  27. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 26, 2022.
  28. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 25, 2023.
  29. "Women's World Golf Rankings". December 30, 2024.