After finishing T14 or better in her next three starts, Vu traveled to The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas for The Chevron Championship. This year’s edition of the major championship marked the first time that the event was not contested at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., and with a new venue in a new city, it felt like a new history was begging to be created as the LPGA Tour’s best teed it up just outside of Houston.

Determined to be a part of it, Vu got off to a solid start, carding rounds of 68 and 69 on days one and two to sit in a tie for second at 7-under heading into the weekend. She then slipped outside of the top 10 after her Moving Day was derailed by a 1-over 73, leaving her four shots back of leaders Allisen Corpuz and Angel Yin with 18 holes to play.

While that four-stroke deficit could have seemed overwhelming given how challenging Carlton Woods was playing, it wasn’t insurmountable, especially considering how chaotic the final rounds of majors can be. So, Vu put her head down and charged ahead, chipping away at the lead with a final-round 68. A pair of Yin bogeys late in the round on holes 16 and 17 left Vu with the lead, but a Yin birdie on the par-5 18th hole sent the pair into a playoff with each player vying for their first major title.

Vu and Yin both found the fairway with their drives, but a watery approach shot from Yin left Vu with the advantage. She knocked her second shot over the green and then lagged her eagle try from off the green to approximately 10 feet, leaving her a quick, downhill birdie putt that would’ve made even the most storied of veterans nervous.

When Vu’s ball tumbled over the edge of the cup, she simply couldn’t believe it. She was now a major champion. After a celebratory jump in the lake and the trophy presentation, Vu once again sat in front of a media center full of journalists, in shock about her latest accomplishment.

But this time she told a different story.

“The reason I'm here is because of my grandpa,” explained Vu. “When my grandpa and his kids and wife fled Vietnam, he went away for a couple of months at a time building a boat in the countryside. One day, he told my mom and her siblings, it's time to go, it's time to go, and I remember her telling me that her and her little sister were running through the forest to get to that boat. Now my mom is here, and then she had me.

“He passed away at the beginning of COVID. I was in such a bad place with my golf game. Everything was life or death. I was leaving for an Epson Tour event, and my grandpa was in the hospital for his heart condition. It seemed like he was fine, and the last thing he told me was to play my best. When we came back from that tournament, my mom got a call from my aunt that Grandpa is in the ER, and that day he passed away.

Banner 2023 Season Lands Lilia Vu Four Victories, Rolex POY Honors

Lilia Vu had no idea what was coming for her in 2023.

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