WITH the HSBC Women’s World Championship set to tee off at Sentosa Golf Club on Feb 29, the one name on every golf fan’s lips these days is Lilia Vu. The 26-year-old American is the world’s top-ranked female golfer, and she’s the star attraction at the four-day event that will see 15 of the current top 20 players in action at Sentosa’s Tanjong course.

Born in California to Vietnamese parents, Vu said that she is eager to step on to the challenging course again, having finished joint-14th at last year’s edition.

She arrives in the Lion City on Feb 26 hoping to build on a breakout 2023 season that saw her claim two Majors – the AIG Women’s Open and the Chevron Championship – en route to being named the LPGA Tour Player of the Year with four titles in all. That remarkable showing catapulted her to the summit of the Rolex Women’s World Golf rankings.

Even though she has a perpetual target on her back with so many of her rivals chomping at the bit to overtake her at the top, Vu insisted that she doesn’t feel burdened by the heavy expectations on her shoulders.

“For some reason, I don’t feel pressured to play well in Singapore,” she said in a media interview conducted over Zoom from the US. “Yes, I know I can do better, and I remember finishing the tournament last year thinking about how I missed some shots and realising I could have played better and been smarter (about my game)“

She admitted that she’s aware that many are eyeing her lofty position, and she would be too if she was in the chasing pack. “I feel like if I was not the world No 1 today, I would be looking to get to that spot. But funnily enough, I never really think about what other people are doing. I just do my own thing, and that’s how I got here. I feel if you single yourself out to try to beat one person, it doesn’t get you very far.”

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Family of golfers

Vu first started to play golf at the age of seven when she was given her first set of clubs. She went on to enjoy a successful amateur career during her time as a political science student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She eventually ranked first on the all-time UCLA career victory list with eight individual titles. She held the No 1 spot on the World Amateur Golf Ranking for a total of 31 weeks until she turned professional in January 2019.

Vu – whose full name is Lillia Kha-Tu Du Vu – is someone who is proud of her Vietnamese heritage. She often tells the story of how her late grandfather built a boat to help the family escape from a war-torn Vietnam in 1982. In memory of her grandfather, who died in 2020, Lilia’s fingernails are constantly painted with koi fish – to remind her of the 50 koi fish that he raised in his backyard pond.

Vu, who has flown to Vietnam to take part in some tournaments over the years, comes from a family of golfers. Her father Douglas is her coach, while elder brother Andre once played on the University of California, Riverside’s golf team.

Commenting on her incredible 2023 season, Vu admitted that she far exceeded her expectations. “In 2022, I was trying too hard to win and I ended up not winning (any tournament) at all. I just went into the 2023 season with a really positive mind and I knew the win was going to come. I tried to have fun on the course and let the win come whenever the time was right,” she noted.

Her first professional win on Tour came at the Honda LPGA Thailand in February 2023. The Chevron Championship and the AIG Women’s Open soon followed, with these feats firmly establishing her as the player to beat.

The road to success was not easy, and Vu explained her slump in form after she turned professional. “I wasn’t ready to be a pro golfer at the time. I came from college, where the coach and assistant coach handled everything,” she noted. “We just went with whatever the coach told us to do. Everything was handled for us – travel plans, where to go, the practice rounds, and so on. It was a learning curve of growing up and being an adult.”

At the US$1.8 million HSBC event in Singapore, Vu will pit her skills against all the other reigning Major champions including Allisen Corpuz (US Open), Yin Ruoning (PGA Championship) and Celine Boutier (Evian Championship). The field in Singapore includes 19 Major champions, 43 LPGA winners with a combined total of 175 titles, seven former world No 1 players, and 18 Solheim Cup players with 46 appearances between them.

“Singapore is one of my favourite countries. My parents were with me last year and we had a great time,” shared Vu. “The course was really beautiful. Honestly, there’s no course elsewhere that I have played on that’s similar to it. It’s not easy because it’s uphill, narrow and tricky. It will challenge every part of your game.”