After the first-round of the TOTO Japan Classic, Lilia Vu didn’t know what to make of her time at Seta Golf Course. A quadruple bogey on the par-4 17th will do that to you. But despite the score, a first-round 75, Vu hung on through 54 more holes to net her ninth top-10 finish of the season, a tie for 10th at -10 overall.
“I was just hitting it everywhere honestly off the tee. Honestly, I don’t think I played well at all this week, I just played with what I had,” said Vu, who rose from T28 to the top 10 on the final day. “I wasn’t confident over most of my shots but gave myself a good chance for birdie and then tried to make the putt.”
The 6-under 66 on Sunday was enough to squeeze out solid result, highlighted by three closing birdies to finish out her debut performance in Japan. “I think the last hole, because I don’t know, hopefully that helps me get a top 10,” said Vu at the time. “I knew I needed to make that putt and yeah, I was glad that I did.”
Vu’s next appearance will be at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, where the Epson Tour graduate from 2021 will look to be one of 60 players to take home the $2 million winner’s prize, the largest in the history of women’s golf. It’s been a dream season for the 25-year-old, who is also a U.S. Solheim Cup Team hopeful for 2023, and with one event to go, she’s ready to continue showing out.
“I mean, I’ve been reflecting this past week because I thought ‘okay, this is just a bad tournament for me. I’m not playing well.’ But then I thought about it and I was like, ‘no, I’m having a good year, why am I so ungrateful?’” said Vu. “So I’m just going to go out there and try to fun, and keep doing what I’m doing.”