By Carey Van Lue

AIG Women’s Open

Walton Heath Golf Club | Surrey, England | August 10-13, 2023

In the Winner’s Circle with Lilia Vu

August 13, 2023

Hometown/Resides: Fountain Valley, California

Birthdate: October 14, 1997; currently 25 years, 9 months and 30 days

Qualified for LPGA Tour: Finished T27 at 2018 LPGA Q-Series to LPGA Tour Membership for the 2019 season

Turned Professional/Rookie Year: 2018/2019

Caddie: Cole Pensanti

VICTORIES

LPGA TOUR: Third career victory

PREVIOUS WINS: 2023 Honda LPGA Thailand, 2023 The Chevron Championship

EPSON TOUR WINS: Three victories

RACE TO THE CME GLOBE 

With her win, Vu earns 650 points and is projected to move to second in the Race to the CME Globe

MONEY

With her win, Vu earns $1,350,000; she has earned $2,519,386 for the season and $3,442,155 for her LPGA Tour career; 73.2% of her career earnings have been made this season

PREVIOUS AIG WOMEN’S OPEN RESULTS

2022 – T41

2023 LPGA TOUR PERFORMANCE

Thirteen events played, eight cuts made, $2,519,386 earned; three wins, one T7 result and three additional top-20 finishes

OF NOTE 

• Vu is projected to move to No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf rankings
• She clinches the Rolex Annika Major Award, which recognizes the player who has the most outstanding record in all five major championships during the LPGA Tour season
  • She is the second American to win the award since its inception in 2014, joining Michelle Wie West (2014)
• She is the first American since Juli Inkster in 1999 to win two major championships in a single season
• She is the fourth American to win the AIG Women’s Open since it became as major in 2001, joining Mo Martin (2014), Stacy Lewis (2013) and Sherri Steinhauer (2006)
• She becomes the second player to earn at least three victories on Tour this season, joining Celine Boutier (LPGA Drive on Championship, The Amundi Evian Championship, FREED GROUP Women’s Scottish Open presented by Trust Golf)
• This is the first time Vu has won after holding the 54-hole lead or co-lead
  • In her two previous wins this season, Vu came from behind to achieve victory
    • At the 2023 Honda LPGA Thailand, Vu had a 6-stroke deficit heading into the final round and won
    • At the 2023 The Chevron Championship, Vu had a 4-stoke deficit after 54-holes and won in a playoff
  • The last and only other time she held a third-round lead was at the 2022 Portland Classic, where she finished T3
• This is her third season on the LPGA Tour
  • She became a Rolex First-Time Winner at the Honda LPGA Thailand and earned her second win at The Chevron Championship
  • She lost priority status on the LPGA Tour after her rookie season in 2019
  • Vu was a 2021 Epson Tour graduate; she made 15 cuts in 18 starts in 2021 including three victories and finished first in the Race for the Card to earn LPGA Tour Membership for the 2022 season
• Vu is a graduate of UCLA; she was the 2018 WGCA Player of the Year and Pac-12 Conference Golfer of the Year
• She is ranked first on the all-time UCLA career victory list with eight individual titles

COURTESY LPGA TOUR COMMUNICATIONS