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Lilia Vu Crowned as 2023 Rolex Player of the Year
November 20, 2023 | Women's Golf
LOS ANGELES – UCLA women's golf alumna Lilia Vu earned 2023 Rolex Player of the Year honors, it was announced by the LPGA Tour Sunday afternoon.
Vu, who competed for the Bruins from 2015-2018, is the first American to be the Rolex Player of the Year since Stacy Lewis in 2014. The 26-year-old Vu took the sport by storm this season, capturing four wins, including two major championship titles at The Chevron Championship and the AIG Women's Open. She became the seventh Bruin to win an LPGA Tour event and the third to win a major. Vu is the first UCLA product to win multiple majors and first to win multiple events in the same year.
Entering the Tour's season finale at the CME Group Tour Championship last week, the race for POTY honors came down to Vu and Celine Boutier (France). Vu had the best chances of winning following her victory at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican two weeks ago. She finished the year with 3,162 points compared to Boutier's 3,124.
Vu produced three other top-10 results in addition to her four titles.
Vu became a Rolex first-time winner at the Honda LPGA Thailand on Feb. 23, and won her maiden major title two months later at The Chevron Championship in its first year at The Club at Carlton Woods on April 20. In August, Vu won her second major championship at the AIG Women's Open, where she became the first American to etch her name on two major championship trophies in a single season since Juli Inkster in 1999. As a result, she ascended to No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings for the first time in her career. The victory also secured Vu the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award, which recognizes the player who has the most outstanding record in all five major championships during the LPGA Tour season.
She is the third player since the inception of the LPGA in 1950 to enter a year with no career LPGA wins, then go on to win multiple majors that season (Se Ri Pak, 1998 and Meg Mallon, 1991).
A 2019 LPGA Tour rookie, Vu regained full membership for the 2022 season through the Epson Tour's Race for the Card in 2021 after winning three times and earning Player of the Year honors.
At UCLA, Vu was the Pac-12 Conference Golfer of the Year, WGCA Player of the Year and a Honda Sport Award Finalist in 2018. Vu, a three-time WGCA First-Team All-American, ranks first in UCLA history with eight victories and second with a 71.09 scoring average.
Vu, who competed for the Bruins from 2015-2018, is the first American to be the Rolex Player of the Year since Stacy Lewis in 2014. The 26-year-old Vu took the sport by storm this season, capturing four wins, including two major championship titles at The Chevron Championship and the AIG Women's Open. She became the seventh Bruin to win an LPGA Tour event and the third to win a major. Vu is the first UCLA product to win multiple majors and first to win multiple events in the same year.
Entering the Tour's season finale at the CME Group Tour Championship last week, the race for POTY honors came down to Vu and Celine Boutier (France). Vu had the best chances of winning following her victory at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican two weeks ago. She finished the year with 3,162 points compared to Boutier's 3,124.
Vu produced three other top-10 results in addition to her four titles.
Vu became a Rolex first-time winner at the Honda LPGA Thailand on Feb. 23, and won her maiden major title two months later at The Chevron Championship in its first year at The Club at Carlton Woods on April 20. In August, Vu won her second major championship at the AIG Women's Open, where she became the first American to etch her name on two major championship trophies in a single season since Juli Inkster in 1999. As a result, she ascended to No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings for the first time in her career. The victory also secured Vu the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award, which recognizes the player who has the most outstanding record in all five major championships during the LPGA Tour season.
She is the third player since the inception of the LPGA in 1950 to enter a year with no career LPGA wins, then go on to win multiple majors that season (Se Ri Pak, 1998 and Meg Mallon, 1991).
A 2019 LPGA Tour rookie, Vu regained full membership for the 2022 season through the Epson Tour's Race for the Card in 2021 after winning three times and earning Player of the Year honors.
At UCLA, Vu was the Pac-12 Conference Golfer of the Year, WGCA Player of the Year and a Honda Sport Award Finalist in 2018. Vu, a three-time WGCA First-Team All-American, ranks first in UCLA history with eight victories and second with a 71.09 scoring average.
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