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THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Lilia Vu’s Pro V1 barely reached the bottom of the cup before tears started streaming down her face. After snatching the ball from the hole, she pulled her mask down over her eyes and cried.
After fighting a cold, windy spring day in Texas, Fu was the last opponent standing. On a Sunday when only three golfers broke 70 at Carlton Woods, the 25-year-old pro scored the lowest round of the day with four players under 68 to complete her victory and win the Chevron Championship for her first major title.
“I couldn’t believe that happened,” Fu said. “We won a major.”
When you look at Vu’s resume, it only makes sense that she would add her name to the Dinah Shore Trophy. She is a former amateur ranked number one in the world. She was named Pac-12 Player of the Year. She has won a whopping eight championships at UCLA. Her list of amateur accomplishments is on par with some of the biggest stars in the game, and a successful career would be the next logical step.
But the path to success is rarely linear.
In her first year on the LPGA Tour in 2019, she made just one cut and made just $3,830. I felt lost playing the game I loved. Off the course, things weren’t any better. Her grandfather died early in the Covid-19 pandemic, and she even considered abandoning her pro-golf aspirations and going to law school.
“I was in such a bad place,” Fu said. “Everything was life or death. I just saw everyone I competed with to be successful, and I compared myself all the time.”
If she had resigned, Sunday at Chevron would have been much different.
Heading into the final round, there was little Vu on the shortlist of potential champions. There was talk of Nelly Korda and her chance to win without her best. From Angel Yin and her chance to break through for her first win. and a possible charge by Athaiah Theticul, as she sought her first major title.
For most of the final round, this theme remained true. Korda battled her swing and stayed near the top of the leaderboard, and Thitikul charged into the red numbers. A Lim Kim attempted to catch another major in Texas, and Yin sized up a glass slipper. But within an hour in the late afternoon, Fu plunged into the tournament conversation.
Of the 278 lashes Fu made at Carlton Woods this week, her shot on the 17th-third tee is perhaps the most important. Standing 149 yards from the flag, Fu unleashed a towering shortstop iron on the green. Moments later, she poured in the long slash to cut Yin’s bullets into one.
18 resulted in another circuit. She bombed her drive down the fairway, laser-blazing her shot over the green and sprinting up and down to score the club’s lead at 10.
“The 17th and 18th come in a way, a flying bird,” Fu said. “Then we are now here.”
Lynn had a shot at the title with her 35-foot eagle putt, but when her putt went past the hole it ensured that the first edition of the Chevron Championship held in Texas would need additional golf to determine the champion.
Both competitors split the fairway with their drives, but with Yin playing first on the green, the clock finally struck midnight. Her 5 hurdles flew low and left, snaking from a stone wall off the green and into the midst of danger.
“I just didn’t hit a good shot,” Yin said. “He talked a lot about today.”
Once Fu poured her birdie sound into the cup, the only drama left was whether or not she would drown in the lake next to the green. Although Poppie’s Pond is 1,500 miles away, many wanted to see the traditional jump of the hero continue.
They got their wish.
Despite the high temperatures of the 1950s, Fu, along with her pack and coach, took a polar dip from the pier that had been constructed for the occasion.
“I don’t know how you pulled this off,” Fu said, putting on the winner’s robe. “I am really happy.”