Solheim Cup: Lilia Vu easily secures Team USA spot solheim,cup,lilia,vu,easily,secures,team,usa,spot,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,lpga-golf,golf-news


Team USA captain Stacey Lewis has her second team member for the 19th edition of the Solheim Cup. From September 13-15 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va., Team USA will look to reclaim the Cup on home soil against the European team.

On Tuesday, former World No. 1 Lilia Vu earned enough points to clinch her spot on the 2024 team. She tied for second at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, giving her 1,932.50 total points throughout the qualifying period.

From the 2023 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament through the final day of the AIG Women’s Open on Aug. 25, players can accumulate points to try and qualify for spots on the Solheim Cup teams.

All five of her LPGA victories came during that period. She won four times last season, including two majors, and earned the Rolex Player of the Year.

This season, Vu battled a back injury that forced her to withdraw from The Chevron Championship and take two months off. However, her fifth victory came in her first start back at the Meijer LPGA Classic a couple of weeks ago. The 26-year-old defeated Grace Kim and Lexi Thompson in a three-hole playoff.

Despite her back issues, Lewis knows her experience will be so beneficial in Virginia.

“It’s been very exciting to see how she’s played the last two starts, coming out of the injury with her win and really just picking up where she left off,” Lewis said in an LPGA press release.

“She’s a tremendous player, from ball striking to putting, with a true all-around game. We’re excited to have her back for her second Solheim Cup, with an opportunity to step up and become a leader on this team.”

Vu also qualified for Team USA last year as she made her Solheim Cup debut. She went 1-3-0 at Finca Cortesin in Andalucia, Spain, claiming the singles match over Madelene Sagstrom.

The former UCLA golfer became the second automatic qualifier for Team USA in 2024. She joins current World No. 1 Nelly Korda, who secured her spot after the ShopRite LPGA Classic. Korda has six wins since the start of 2024 and held a commanding lead in the points race.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

LPGA: Dow Championship sees pair of former World No. 1s win title lpga,dow,championship,sees,pair,of,former,world,no,s,win,title,sbnation,com,golf,lpga-golf,golf-news

LPGA Dow Championship sees pair of former World No 1s


Although Nelly Korda currently occupies the top spot in the Women’s World Golf Rankings, Ruoning Yin and Atthaya Thitikul looked like the best players on the planet on Sunday.

Yin and Thitikul, both 21, briefly held the World No. 1 moniker last fall but have since given that distinction to Korda. Yet, these two players, who hail from China and Thailand, respectively, carded an 8-under 62 in best ball format to win the Dow Championship by one.

The Dow Championship is not unlike the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on the PGA Tour, which employs a two-man format with two rounds of Alternate Shot and two rounds of Best Ball. Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry won this year’s event at TPC Louisiana, marking McIlroy’s 25th career win on the PGA Tour and Lowry’s third.

Ruoning Yin (left) and Atthaya Thitikul (right) Thailand take a selfie with the trophy after winning the Dow Championship.
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

Sunday’s win for Yin and Thitikul marked their third career LPGA victory, as they defeated 54-hole leaders Jennifer Kupcho and Ally Ewing by a stroke.

Kupcho and Ewing began Sunday’s final round at 15-under, while Yin and Thitikul sat at 14-under. The Americans went on to shoot a 6-under 64, but it was not enough. Kupcho and Ewing made pars over the final three holes, while Thitikul stuffed one inside of 10 feet on the par-3 18th hole. She then made the birdie putt for her and Yin, which proved to be the difference in the end.

The LPGA will have one week off before the Amundi Evian Championship, the fourth major of the season. France’s Celine Boutier won this title last year at the Evian Resort Golf Club, which sits along Lake Geneva on the French-Swiss border. Surely, Yin and Thitkul will arrive in France for the Amundi Evian Championship as two of the favorites.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.

Olympics: LPGA stars Charley Hull, Georgia Hall offer fun Paris preview olympics,lpga,stars,charley,hull,georgia,hall,offer,fun,paris,preview,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,lpga-golf,golf-news

Olympics LPGA stars Charley Hull Georgia Hall offer fun Paris


Charley Hull and Georgia Hall are best friends who grew up playing golf together and are both LPGA veterans.

This week, they paired up for the LPGA Dow Championship, a multi-format stroke-play team event at Midland Country Club in Midland, Michigan.

In rounds one and three, the ladies will play foursomes or alternate shot. For the second and final rounds, it will be four-ball or best ball—much like the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on the PGA Tour.

They have known each other since they were 11 years old, and they are celebrating 17 years of friendship. Hull calls Hall ‘George,’ while the former AIG Women’s Open champion calls her best friend ‘Charles.’

“We live three minutes away from each other now, and there’s not a day that goes by we don’t speak,” Hall said.

The duo will also represent Team Great Britain in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Becoming an Olympian is a big deal and even more special for this duo because they get to do it together.

“Just spending time with George because we love playing golf together,” Hull said. “That week is going to be a bit of a busy week, but it’s just nice to share it with your best friend, especially in a moment like that.”

Even though they will have plenty of Olympic duties, the pair has made plans to go shopping and enjoy the experience. Hall has never been to the city of love, while Hull has only visited Paris once.

“You get to share the experience with me the first time,” Hull said, smiling. “But honestly, I actually really want to go to Paris one day.”

“Yeah, let’s go shopping,” Hall said.

Shopping at the Olympics? Neither athlete is a huge sports fan, but they each have a separate event they want to watch. Hull wants to watch boxing, while Hall wants to check out gymnastics.

The best part was the compromise between the two so they could spend as much time together as possible.

“You’ll go to gymnastics, and I’ll go to boxing, and we’ll have to go to each other’s one,” Hull said.

This week, their team name is the Rose and Thorn because a good friend, Ryan Evans, gave it to them. They also have a walk-up song, “Best Friend,” by rapper Saweetie.

“Georgia goes to him, ‘Describe me and Charley,’ and Ryan goes, ‘Georgia, you’re like the lovely English rose, and Charley, you’re like the thorn.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, thanks, Ryan,’” Hull explained.

Hall acknowledged it was stark, but she quickly made her best friend feel better about it.

“There’s lots of thorns around the rose, so you protect me, don’t you,” Hall said.

“Yeah, I protect her,” Hull responded with a saucy grin.

Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

This week in Michigan, they will tap into their connection to find success.

“I know when Charley is upset before she does, and she’s the same with me,” Hall said. “We know each other well, and I think that’s so important. This type of event, we go out there and have fun.”

“100 percent,” Hull chimed in. “George knows me better than I know myself.”

These two are among the 60 women who will compete in the Paris Olympics at Le Golf National, the 2018 Ryder Cup venue.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

Olympics 2024: Nelly Korda headlines stacked Team USA olympics,nelly,korda,headlines,stacked,team,usa,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,lpga-golf,olympics,golf-news,womens-sports,all-womens-sports

Olympics 2024 Nelly Korda headlines stacked Team USA olympicsnellykordaheadlinesstackedteamusasbnationcomfront pagegolflpga golfolympicsgolf newswomens sportsall womens sports


The Olympic Women’s Golf Competition officially has a field of 60 participants with the latest update of the Rolex Rankings.

They will play at Le Golf National in Paris, the site of the 2018 Ryder Cup, from Aug. 7 to 10.

Two players from each country can qualify unless they rank inside the top 15 in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR). A maximum of four players from each country are eligible.

Each tournament has a strength of field rating for the Olympic Golf Rankings based on the quality of players within the field, like the OWGR.

That determines the points awarded at an event, which are then allocated to the players based on where they finish. Better performances in stronger events lead to more points.

Team USA has three of the top 10 players: No. 1 Nelly Korda, No. 2 Lilia Vu, and No. 9 Rose Zhang. Korda has six wins on the season, including five straight. However, Korda missed the cut in her last three starts.

She won the gold medal by one stroke in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo over silver medalist Mone Inami and bronze medalist Lydia Ko. Can she win her second gold in Paris or get on the podium?

South Korea will also have three Olympians after Amy Yang won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on Sunday. She will join Jin Young Ko and Hyo Joo Kim in Paris.

Yang’s addition to South Korea’s Olympic team dropped Morocco’s Ines Laklalech, at No. 321, out of the competition.

Charley Hull and Georgia Hall will represent Great Britain, while Ko looks to get back on the podium for New Zealand. Australian golfer Hannah Green is also back in the Olympics after tying for fifth in Tokyo.

Nelly Korda’s most recent missed cut came at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America via Getty Images

The individual teams and the participants on each follow below, with their current world ranking in parentheses.

United States

Nelly Korda (1)
Lilia Vu (2)
Rose Zhang (9)

South Korea

Jin Young Ko (3)
Amy Yang (5)
Hyo-Joo Kim (13)

China

Ruoning Yin (4)
Xiyu Lin (15)

France

Celine Boutier (6)
Perrine Delacour (75)

Australia

Hannah Green (7)
Minjee Lee (11)

Great Britain

Charley Hull (8)
Georgia Hall (36)

Japan

Yuka Saso (10)
Miyu Yamashita (19)

Thailand

Atthaya Thitikul (12)
Patty Tavatanakit (25)

Canada

Brooke M. Henderson (14)
Alena Sharp (292)

New Zealand

Lydia Ko (17)
Momoka Kobori (293)

Sweden

Maja Stark (21)
Linn Grant (26)

Spain

Carlota Ciganda (30)
Azahara Munoz (109)

Leona Maguire (32)
Stephanie Meadow (134)

South Africa

Ashleigh Buhai (41)
Paula Reto (196)

India

Aditi Ashok (60)
Diksha Dagar (167)

Mexico

Gaby Lopez (62)
Maria Fassi (186)

Germany

Esther Henseleit (64)
Alexandra Forsterling (69)

Switzerland

Albane Valenzuela (70)
Morgane Metraux (127)

Scotland

Gemma Dryburgh (79)

Denmark

Emily Kristine Pedersen (87)
Nanna Koerstz Madsen (106)

Taiwan

Peiyun Chien (88)
Wei-Ling Hsu (161)

Netherlands

Anne van Dam (108)
Dewi Weber (302)

Philippines

Bianca Pagdanganan (113)
Dottie Ardina (298)

Belgium

Manon de Roey (154)

Austria

Emma Spitz (178)

Singapore

Shannon Tan (181)

Norway

Celine Borge (187)
Madelene Stavnar (307)

Czech Republic

Klara Davidson Spilkova (192)
Sara Kouskova (290)

Colombia

Mariajo Uribe (198)

Italy

Alessandra Fanali (211)

Malaysia

Ashley Lau (279)

Finland

Ursula Wikstrom (286)
Noora Komulainen (301)

Slovakia

Ana Belac (288)

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Round 3 tee times, Lexi Thompson’s edge kpmg,women,s,pga,championship,round,tee,times,lexi,thompson,s,edge,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,lpga-golf,golf-news


The LPGA is in the Pacific Northwest at Sahalee Country Club for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

After a grueling first two days of play, the Top 60 players and ties will play the weekend.

Among those in contention is Lexi Thompson, who fired off an even-par 72 on Friday to sit tied for third place at 4-under.

She is chasing Sarah Schmelzel and Amy Yang, who both signed for 6-under 66s. Jin Young Ko and Thompson will play together alongside Hae Ran Ryu in the second-to-last group.

Some other notable names within reach are Leona Maguire at 3-under. Madelene Sagstrom and Ally Ewing are both at 2-under.

Charley Hull, Maja Stark and Celine Boutier sit at 1-under ahead of moving day. A solid third round could benefit them. Moving Day is for these ladies right in the mix to move up the leaderboard and give themselves a late tee time for Sunday.

Check out the complete tee time list below for Saturday at Sahalee.

KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Round 3 Tee Times (ET):

*indicates going off the 10th tee

12:44 p.m.* — Elizabeth Szokol, Georgia Hall, Lizette Salas

12:49 p.m. — Ruixin Liu, Yu Jin Sung, Akie Iwai

12:55 p.m. * — Linn Grant, Peiyun Chien, Hyo Joo Kim

1:00 p.m. — Pajaree Anannarukarn, Minjee Lee, Mao Saigo

1:06 p.m. * — Arpichaya Yubol, Esther Henseliet, Azahara Munoz

1:11 p.m. — Allisen Corpuz, Ayaka Furue, Xi Yu Lin

1:17 p.m. * — Rio Takeda, Morgane Metraux, Jiwon Jeon

1:22 p.m. — Malia Nam, Minami Katsu, Gaby Lopez

1:28 p.m. * — Paula Reto, Lydia Ko, Mi Hyang Lee

1:33 p.m. — Lilia Vu, Brooke M. Henderson, Ariya Jutanugarn

1:39 p.m. * — Ashleigh Buhai, Gabriela Ruffels, Grace Kim

1:40 p.m. — Bianca Pagdanganan, Lauren Coughlin, Hye-Jin Choi

1:50 p.m. * — Rose Zhang, Atthaya Thitikul, Ruoning Yin

1:55 p.m. — Patty Tavatanakit, Jennifer Kupcho, Celine Borge

2:01 p.m. * — Hannah Green, Na Rin An, Frida Kinhult

2:06 p.m. — Charley Hull, Lindsey Weaver-Wright, Caroline Inglis

2:12 p.m. * — Moriya Jutanugarn, Aditi Ashok, A Lim Kim

2:17 p.m. — Stephanie Kyriacou, Maja Stark, Celine Boutier

2:23 p.m. * — Yuka Saso, Cheyenne Knight, Lindy Duncan

2:28 p.m. — Ally Ewing, Lauren Hartlage, Aline Krauter

2:34 p.m. * — Mariah Stackhouse, Maria Fassi

2:39 p.m. — Miyu Yamashita, Leona Maguire, Madelene Sagstrom

2:45 p.m. * — Angel Yin, Yealimi Noh

2:50 p.m. — Lexi Thompson, Jin Young Ko, Hae Ran Ryu

3:01 p.m. — Sarah Schmelzel, Amy Yang, Hinako Shibuno

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

KPMG Women’s PGA Championship: Nelly Korda among big names to miss cut kpmg,women,s,pga,championship,nelly,korda,among,big,names,to,miss,cut,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,lpga-golf,golf-news

KPMG Womens PGA Championship Nelly Korda among big names to


The LPGA’s third major championship, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, is halfway over. Sahalee Country Club showed its teeth through the first two days.

After Friday’s round, half the field went home, and among those was World No. 1 Nelly Korda.

Korda will not play on the weekend for the second major championship and the third straight week. She started the season with five consecutive wins and earned her sixth at the Mizuho’s Americas Open.

Since that victory, though, things have not gone her way. To miss the cut, Korda shot an 80-70 at the U.S. Women’s Open. This week, she tallied 69-81, her highest professional career score.

Photo by Jorge Lemus/NurPhoto via Getty Images

It was not a good day for the top-ranked player in the world, especially after a strong start to the week on Day 1. Korda started her day by making five bogeys in six of her first holes. She added two more bogeys at the 9th, 11th and 14th before a double bogey at the par-4 15th completely derailed her.

Korda did add one birdie to the card on the par-5 18th, but it was too late.

She is not the only one headed home early. Other notable names who missed the cut at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship include Anna Nordqvist, Alexa Pano, Emily Kristine Pedersen, Robyn Choi, Nasa Hataoka, Andrea Lee, Danielle Kang, Sophia Popov, Carlota Ciganda, Gemma Dryburgh, Stacy Lewis, and Brittany Lincicome.

Sahalee gave these ladies quite the test, and they were sent home after 36 holes.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

Lexi Thompson delivered KPMG Women’s PGA Championship to contend lexi,thompson,delivered,kpmg,women,s,pga,championship,to,contend,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,lpga-golf,golf-news


Lexi Thompson shot an even-par 72 on Friday to remain in contention at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

She is two shots off the leader, Sarah Schmelzel, who fired a 5-under 67 to move to 6-under.

Thompson sits at 4-under through 36 holes and sits in a tie for second place with the afternoon wave left to tackle Sahalee Country Club.

“Honestly, even is a great score out here, too,” Thompson said after her round on Friday. “Just a difficult golf course.”

“Pars are good out there. Always important to start off with a good round especially yesterday shooting 4-under. So very grateful and took it into today. Had a great front nine and had a few hiccups on the back nine, but it happens out here. Also made a lot of good putts, so going to build on that.”

The 29-year-old started her round on the back nine and made three birdies to turn in 33 strokes. However, her second nine holes were a grind.

She made a double-bogey on the par-5 2nd and dropped another shot at the 4th. Thompson picked up her fourth birdie at six. However, she made a bogey on the par-4 8th to drop her back to even par.

Thompson explained how this golf course is one to stay patient on.

“There will be bogeys. Take advantage of the few birdie opportunities you get out there,” she said.

Despite the tough stretch, the veteran LPGA player felt she still played well.

“You’re going to hit bad shots. You just got to take it, know there will be a bogey or two in there, and move on,” Thompson said. “Could have been worse, so I stayed positive and made a birdie on the back nine as well and made some good putts. Just build on the positives, not focus on anything else and take that into the weekend.”

She will continue to keep that patient mindset heading into the final 36 holes as Thompson chases down her second major championship.

Her first came at 19 when she won the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship.

It has been 10 years since that victory, and the 11-time LPGA winner is playing some of her best golf. Thompson finished T2 last week at the Meijer LPGA Classic after she missed four straight cuts. Before those four early weeks, she recorded a T3 at the inaugural Ford Championship.

In the three events that she played all four rounds, her worst finish was a T16 at the season opener, the LPGA Drive On Championship. An injury in her hand and wrist kept her from playing her best. It also seems to be why she missed so many cuts in a row.

Thompson appears healthy now after shooting another impressive round to keep her in contention at Sahalee.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

KMPG Women’s PGA Championship: Nelly Korda delivered, contends again kmpg,women,s,pga,championship,nelly,korda,delivered,contends,again,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,lpga-golf,golf-news,all-womens-sports


Nelly Korda fought hard throughout her Thursday round at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She signed for a 3-under 69 and currently leads the field by one stroke with half the field left to play.

Korda began her day on the back nine and went out in 33 strokes. She recorded four birdies in her first five holes.

Despite carding a 69, the Florida resident had to scramble throughout her first round. The Douglass fir, red cedar and hemlock trees on the Sahalee Country Club course did their jobs as they made Korda work for her score.

“If you try and be aggressive when you’ve hit it offline, it just bites you in the butt,” Korda said after her first round. “Overall, I think I played pretty well. I took my chances where I could and I played safe the majority of the round.”

She made birdies on holes 13-15 before to get to 3-under. Korda moved to 4-under after a birdie on the 4th. However, the 25-year-old coughed up two shots on the fourth as the 14-time LPGA winner made a double-bogey.

“This entire golf course is so demanding. I had to make some pretty good up-and-downs,” Korda said.

Korda closed her round with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 9th to get back to 3-under on the day, giving her some much-needed momentum.

It is a much better start than her last major championship start. Three weeks ago, Korda shot an 80 at Lancaster Country Club in the first round of the U.S. Women’s Open. She shot 10 strokes better on Friday with an even-par 70 but missed her first cut of the 2024 season.

The 2-time major winner also missed the cut at last week’s Meijer LPGA Classic after she shot a 76 and 67. It is the first time all season that the No. 1 ranked player in the world missed consecutive cuts. Prior to that, she won the Mizuho Americas Open for her sixth victory of the year.

Korda made history by winning five straight before she settled for a T7 at the Cognizant Founders Cup.

She will tee off with Ruoning Yin and Hannah Green at 1:28 p.m. PT or 4:28 p.m. ET for her second round of the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

Jessica Korda’s informative KPMG PGA Championship advice to Nelly Korda jessica,korda,s,informative,kpmg,pga,championship,advice,to,nelly,korda,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,lpga-golf,golf-news,all-womens-sports


This week, the LPGA hosts its third major championship, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington.

It has been eight years since the LPGA played Sahalee for the Women’s PGA Championship.

The last time the venue hosted the major was in 2016 when Brooke Henderson defeated Lydia Ko in a playoff.

Jessica Korda played in that event before ultimately missing the cut. She returns to Sahalee in 2024, but this time to cheer on her younger sister and current World No. 1, Nelly Korda.

She explained the best way to attack this tree-lined track.

“Sahalee is one of the purest tracks I think we’ve ever played. It’s such a great test of golf and an amazing major championship host,” she said to the LPGA social media team.

“All you see are these big trees, the roughs up — you got branches in the way. So paying attention to where the pins are — coming in at the right angles from the fairway, those are all going to be really important things. You would say it’s a second-shot golf course, but it’s not. It’s an every-shot golf course.”

Pine trees line the fairways at Sahalee, making it a challenge to take home the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship trophy on Sunday.

Korda has been on quite the run in 2024, already racking up six victories on the LPGA Tour She won five straight, finished T7 at the Cognizant Founders Cup and won the Mizuho Americas Open the following week.

However, since that sixth victory, her game has gone cold.

Korda missed the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club earlier this year and the Meijer LPGA Classic last week. She looks to bounce back and play the weekend at this major championship.

The 14-time LPGA winner posted a 3-under 69 to sit atop the leaderboard after her round on Thursday. The afternoon group still has to play, but she leads by one shot.

Korda set the tone with six birdies, a bogey, and one double bogey.

“As long as she can keep it in the fairway, she’s going to be fine,” Jessica Korda said. “But she does scramble really well. So, as long as she can score, I think that’s going to be the most important thing.”

Nelly’s double bogey was rough, but she bounced back with a birdie on her 18th hole to reclaim the lead.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

LPGA: Lilia Vu outlasts Lexi Thompson in epic playoff lpga,lilia,vu,outlasts,lexi,thompson,in,epic,playoff,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,lpga-golf,golf-news


Somehow, someway, Lilia Vu is an LPGA winner again.

Vu, the second-best player in the world behind Nelly Korda, has battled a back injury for most of the season. She even missed the U.S. Women’s Open two weeks ago, and had to withdraw from the Chevron Championship in April because of her back. But Vu overcame that ailment—and an eight-shot deficit on Sunday—to win the Meijer LPGA Classic in thrilling fashion.

Vu carded a 7-under 65 to climb up the leaderboard on Sunday, as she finished at 16-under-par, putting her in a tie with Lexi Thompson and Grace Kim after 72 holes. The trio needed three holes to determine the winner, but in the end, Vu made a birdie putt on the third playoff hole to seal the deal.

“I wasn’t thinking about winning,” Vu said.

“This was the one day I was playing really well. Felt really good with my swing. Coming back from an injury, I was a little up in the air, not knowing my swing, and I felt like I didn’t know where my arms were if I wasn’t tight. I was just trying to make contact today. That’s it.”

Like Vu, Thompson came from behind to get into the playoff. She fired a 4-under 68 on Sunday, while Kim, the 54-hole leader, carded a 1-over 73 on Sunday to fall back to the field.

After all three ladies made birdies on the first two extra holes, they walked over to the par-5 4th. After each player found the green in regulation, Thompson and Kim missed their putts to extend the playoff while Vu sank her birdie putt for the win.

“I think my mindset when it comes to putting is pretty simple: It goes in, or it doesn’t,” Vu said.

“I don’t put a lot of pressure on it. That relieves the pressure for me, and I go for it.”

Vu won her first LPGA win in Thailand in February 2023 from six shots back, so she has experience coming from behind.

“I felt like my first win I had blinders on,” Vu said.

“In the final round, I was focused on making birdies. I felt like that today. I felt like I left some out there, too. So once I got the opportunity for the playoff, I got to the box, and my caddie said, ‘There is nothing to lose now.’ We just went out there and played.”

Vu called this one of her most meaningful wins because she did not know if she could ever play golf pain-free again.

But clearly, she can.

Now, Vu has her fifth career LPGA victory as she eyes another major championship at next week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Hopefully, her back holds up for her at Sahalee.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.