THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Lilia Vu trusted her grandfather’s secure hand and calmness demeanor to book her grounded throughout tricky instances.
He died in 2020, however on Sunday on the Chevron Championship with a anticipation to win her first primary, Vu’s ideas of her grandfather helped her as soon as once more.
“I was getting really upset on the course, and I just had to remind me, ‘Grandpa is with you,'” she mentioned. “‘And he’d be really disappointed if you were getting upset like this and that you didn’t get your act together.'”
Together with his reminiscence in her head, Vu completed robust with two immediately birdies, later birdied the primary playoff hollow to overcome Angel Yin in a dramatic end at The Membership at Carlton Timbers.
Yin’s 2nd shot got here up snip and left and splashed into the puddle guarding the par-5 18th hollow, and Vu collision her means simply over the golf green. Vu went with putter from off the golf green and got here up neatly snip, however she transformed from about 10 toes for the victory.
“I knew on that last putt, all I had to do was just do my routine, read the putt how I usually do and just hit this putt because I’ve hit that putt a million times,” Vu mentioned. “And I knew I could make it.”
The 25-year-old Californian received for the second one age at the LPGA Excursion and took a celebratory soar into the puddle, a practice borrowed from this event’s former venue at Venture Hills within the California wilderness.
Vu birdied her extreme two holes for a 4-under 68 and a four-day overall of 10-under 278 at Carlton Timbers later waited as alternative contenders — together with Yin — faltered.
However Yin, upcoming bogeys at the sixteenth and seventeenth holes, birdied the 18th to drive the playoff.
“Obviously in the playoff hole, I just didn’t hit a good shot,” Yin mentioned. “It just kind of spoke a lot about today.”
Vu performed at UCLA however regarded as quitting the sport upcoming a coarse begin to her professional occupation. She regrouped and received thrice at the developmental Epson Excursion in 2021 later had a cast 2022 ahead of breaking via in February with a victory on the Honda LPGA Thailand. She got here into this tournament ranked twelfth on the planet; the 24-year-old Yin, who became professional age nonetheless in highschool in California, was once Disagree. 172.
Yin had her 2nd runner-up in a significant. She fix for 2nd within the 2019 U.S. Girls’s Observable.
“I’ve just come a long way,” Yin mentioned. “I’m just really happy with who I am, where I am, and what I’m doing right now. Just a lot to appreciate.”
Not able to discover a sponsor prepared so as to add to the half-century run at Venture Hills, the event — lengthy referred to as the Dinah Shore for its longtime famous person host — bolted the California wilderness for the timbers of suburban Houston beneath a six-year trade in with Chevron.
Winners were leaping into Poppie’s Pool off the 18th inexperienced at Venture Hills since 1988, and Vu endured the custom via jumping off a petite dock into murky H2O on a cold time.
“Yesterday or the day before we saw a snake on [the] pond, so I was kind of thinking about that today,” she mentioned. “But I think the emotions were high and just adrenaline, got to jump into that pond.”
Vu took house $765,000 for the win from a handbag of $5.1 million, the biggest ever for this tournament.
Global Disagree. 2 Nelly Korda endured to aim together with her hanging Sunday however eagled the 18th to complete rejected in 3rd at 9 beneath.
“I think on 11 or 12, I was just like, ‘It’s just not my day today,'” Korda mentioned. “I’ve put myself into contention a bunch this year already. I just haven’t been able to finish it, which stings, obviously, but I think one of those days, if I keep knocking on the door, it’ll eventually open for me.”
A couple of others will rue their overlooked alternatives.
Atthaya Thitikul made 4 immediately birdies from Nos. 7 to ten and was once at 10-under status within the 18th fairway when she collision her 3rd shot into the H2O, prominent to double bogey.
“I hit it pretty solid, but it just went like that because maybe misunderstanding with the wind,” she mentioned.
Taking part in spouse A Lim Kim was once 8 beneath, wanting a terminating eagle to compare Vu, when she shanked her 2nd shot and made par. Thitikul and Kim completed 2 photographs again along Amy Yang, Albane Valenzuela and Allisen Corpuz.
Corpuz, who entered the overall spherical fix for the supremacy with Yin, had 4 bogeys within the first 9 holes to fall out of rivalry. She shot 74.
Then a couple of mist delays during the first 3 rounds, play games was once suspended once more for fifty mins Sunday morning as a result of thunderstorms within the branch. The mist prohibited upcoming that, but it surely remained lightless and cold all over the time with the temperature soaring round 60 levels.
