Vietnamese female golfer misses chance to defend major championship

American Lilia Vu, a Vietnamese-American and the reigning Chevron Championship champion, withdrew from the 2024 tournament due to a back injury during the warm-up for round 1 on April 18.

"I had a terrible backache during the warm-up. The pain made it impossible for me to compete and so I had to withdraw right before the start of the tournament," Vu explained in his announcement to retire from the 2024 Chevron Championship. "There were times when I cried from the pain and had to miss many practice sessions."

Round 1 ended with Lauren Coughlin topping the leaderboard, scoring -6 on the par-72 course in Texas. The previous round, held there, saw Vu win the title after defeating Angel Yin on the extra hole, with both of them finishing at -10.

Lilia Vu competes in the second round of the 2023 Chevron Championship. Photo: LPGA. — Lilia Vu competes in the second round of the 2023 Chevron Championship. Photo: *LPGA.*

Vu suffered a back injury last summer and had to sit out a month of competition. Recently, when the problem recurred, she tried to treat it but it did not go away completely.

Last year, Vu had great success on the LPGA Tour, showing through four cups including two majors - the Chevron Championship and the Women's Open. That achievement brought her to the number one position in the Rolex Rankings, becoming the first Vietnamese-American to hold the top position in the history of the world's professional women's golf rankings (since 2006). When the 2023 LPGA Tour ended, Vu won both the top titles, including "Outstanding Golfer" and "Annika Major Award" for individuals with outstanding achievements in five prestigious tournaments.

Vu has been playing with a nagging back issue this season, leading to lackluster results. She has missed three tournaments, played five, and finished T7 at the Honda LPGA Thailand in February.

This week, Vu is ranked 2nd in the world, and his cumulative time at the top is now 28 weeks.

Vu was born in 1997, and her parents are both Vietnamese in California. She played golf professionally since early 2019, spent two years plowing through tournaments on the Epson Tour, then earned a card to compete on the LPGA Tour, the first class, in 2022. During her time trying to find a way to move up the rankings, Vu often thought about quitting because of her continuous low results and the loss of her beloved grandfather.

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