Five-time LPGA Tour winner Lilia Vu turned a corner on Friday at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G.

The 2025 season hasn’t been kind to the former Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1, who has missed 10 cuts in the 15 starts she has made ahead of this week’s tournament in Rogers, Ark., nine of which have been in her last 10 events. But round one at Pinnacle Country Club saw Vu go bogey-free for the first time since day two of the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass, a tournament in which she finished solo second to Hyo Joo Kim, what has remained her lone top-10 result of the year.

The 27-year-old started her round on No. 10 and picked up her first birdie of the day on the par-4 12th hole, striking again on 16 to climb to 2-under. After turning in 33, Vu landed her third first-round birdie on the par-3 3rd hole and made another on five to move to 4-under before ripping off three straight birdies on seven, eight and nine to polish off her 7-under 64.

Not only was it her first mistake-free performance since March, Vu’s day-one effort in Arkansas is also her first round in the 60s since mid-April and her first score of 64 or better since she shot a 64 in the second round of the Ford Championship at Wild Horse Pass.

Considering how long it’s taken her to get back into this kind of form, Vu was incredibly pleased with her Friday showing in what’s her fourth appearance in this tournament and is looking forward to building upon her opening 64 over the next couple of days of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.

“It feels really good. I haven't been in this position in a long, long time,” said Vu, who hit all 13 fairways and 17 of 18 greens in round one. “I feel like I've kind of gone down a different route with my golf game and trying to get body first. I was talking with my mental coach, and the only goal today was to try my best on the shot in front of me and not to get ahead of myself. I think I did that really well. I gave it my all on each shot, and it turned out pretty nicely.”

Vu entered the week at 64th in the Race to the CME Globe, currently four spots outside the top-60 cutoff to qualify for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in November, an event that comes with a $4 million first-place check. While she still has plenty of time to make up ground in the season-long points race, a strong finish in Arkansas would go a long way in propelling Vu up the standings before the Tour heads to Asia.

But maybe more importantly, a top 10 – or even a victory – would serve as the perfect bolster for Vu’s confidence as she looks ahead to the last handful of tournaments on the 2025 schedule and tries to salvage what positives she can from what’s been a difficult year on the golf course before heading into the offseason.

And now, with 36 holes remaining, the sub-70 monkey now off her back and really nothing to lose, Vu is primed to put herself contention over the weekend at Pinnacle Country Club, a position in which she has longed to be in recent months, and will be working hard to capitalize on this latest opportunity as she tries to collect what’s been an elusive sixth career LPGA Tour title at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.

“This round gave me a lot of confidence,” Vu said. “Even (though I) wasn't hitting it very far today, it was earlier in the morning, body is still kind of tight, but even so, being further back on each approach shot I'm able to go out there and have fun and convert and make birdies.”

Lilia Vu Fires First Round in the 60s Since April on Friday at Walmart NW Arkansas Championship

Related Articles