PATTAYA (Thailand) — American Lilia Vu rode hot putter to win her first LPGA title. She defeated Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, the home favorite, by 1-shot at the LPGA Thailand.
Vu, 25, trailed the rookie by six strokes when she started the day. She unleashed eight birdies including five straight from the eighth to complete her round with an 8-under 64. This gave her a total of 22-under 266 at Siam Country Club.
Yesterday, my dad told me that I could win if I play a good round. Vu said that this was all he kept thinking about after he told him that he could win the tour with just one good round. He also finished third in 2022. Basically, today I just blacked out. I tried to birdie every hole I could.
UCLA alumna, who was also a UCLA student, came in third on the Ladies European Tour to Saudi Arabia last week.
I knew I was going win. Vu stated, It was just when… and it finally did.
Vu became the third American winner of the event, following Lexi Thompson (2016) and Jessica Korda (2018).
Vongtaveelap was just 20 years old when she played her first LPGA tournament. Vongtaveelaps lack experience led to a mixed final round with seven birdies, a double-bogey, four bogeys, and a 1-under 71 to finish with 267 overall.
After her birdie attempt at the final hole, she was just a foot from the pin, her hopes of forcing a playoff were dashed.
Thailand will need to wait for the second local winner, after former No. In 2021, Ariya Jutanugarn was the winner. Atthaya Thitikul was third, a Thai golfer who shot a final-round of 68 to get her to 268.
Maja Stark, from Sweden, and Celine Boutier, France, tied for fourth at 271 – one ahead of Lydia Ko (top-ranked), who was tied for sixth.
