NAPLES, Fla. — Joel Dahmen was psyched when he was named Lilia Vu’s partner for this week’s inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational.
After the announcement was made on October 18 that the two would be teeing it up at Tiburón Golf Club in December, Dahmen immediately took to Twitter saying, “My partner is currently the best player in the world! @TheLiliaVu should we start coordinating outfits for the week?”
Vu then responded asking if the PGA Tour winner owned anything pink. Dahmen did and decided to pack some pink for the week at the Grant Thornton. But Vu forgot to throw some pink outfits into her suitcase – a shocking revelation as the vibrant hue is the two-time major champion’s signature color.
“I accidentally didn't bring any pink, but he said he did,” Vu admitted.
“I did. I was packing up at 4:00 a.m. to get here and I found, threw in a pink shirt real quick,” Dahmen said. “She said she didn't bring any pink.”
Vu countered. “But my bag's pink enough for the rest of the field, to be honest.”
“I'm pretty neutral, sounds like you're neutral this week,” said Dahmen. “We'll be able to figure something out. It won't be perfect, but it will be close.”
Despite the lack of matching outfits, the pair are jazzed to be competing together in the first edition of the Grant Thornton Invitational. Dahmen – whose lone PGA Tour victory came in 2021 at the Corales Puntcana Championship – is ranked 160th in the world and doesn’t often get to play with the top players week in and week out on the PGA Tour. So getting the opportunity to play alongside Rolex Rankings No. 1 Vu is a real treat, one he’s hoping to enjoy as much as possible.
“Anytime on Tour I get to play with one of those top-10 players, Rory (McIlroy) or (Jon) Rahm or Scottie (Scheffler) or (Viktor) Hovland, it's a big deal for me and it's really cool,” Dahmen said. “I think (Lilia is) the hottest player in the world right now, doesn't matter what tour it is. So, I'm just excited for that. Kind of just going to hang on and stay out of the way, but some high fives along the way.
“To be up close and personal to it when it also matters for me, like I mean, my paycheck depends on (Lilia) this week. She's won four times this year. I haven't won four times since I was like 12. To watch her handle everything that comes out of this week is going to be awesome.”
The 2023 Rolex Player of the Year feels similarly about her partner. She became a big fan of Dahmen after he was a part of the Netflix documentary “Full Swing”, and when Dahmen said the four-time LPGA Tour winner was going to have to earn his paycheck this week during the duo’s pre-tournament press conference, Vu got a bit flustered, not wanting to let her partner down.
“I've been looking forward to this tournament all year. To be Joel's partner, I'm very excited to play and I think we're going to have a good time this week,” Vu said. “I'm super grateful to be here and for this tournament to actually happen and to play alongside the men. I've heard that (Joel is) really good off the tee, so that's better than me. I'm excited to be here. Super nervous to be quite honest.”
And even if the golf goes sideways at times this week, few teams will have as much fun as the Vu-Tang Clan. Vu and Dahmen’s caddies, Cole Pensanti and Geno Bonnalie are good friends, and there’s been a group text between the four going on well ahead of this week, already setting up the Grant Thornton Invitational to be a blast for Vu and Dahmen.
“I think it's going to be really fun not only learning from Joel but also playing with other players in the field, too, because they also have men as partners,” Vu said. “I think that's going to be fun for all of us. Just interesting to see how they go through their process before the shot and everything in between that."
Dahmen agreed. “Our caddies are good friends. They've known each other for a while and that's kind of helped this partnership along. We've been in a group text for about a month. Once again, a lack of texting from someone. She's been busy winning.”
😅@Joel_Dahmen is putting the pressure on @TheLiliaVu this week@PGATOUR | @gtinvitational pic.twitter.com/j3xFTOQTST
— LPGA (@LPGA) December 6, 2023
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