JM EAGLE LA CHAMPIONSHIP MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 25, 2023

Lilia Vu

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome inside the media center here at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro. We are here with our latest winner and latest major champion Lilia Vu. We're two days on now. Does it feel real yet?

LILIA VU: It's starting to feel real now, but waking up on Monday, it didn't feel real. I felt like I was dreaming because I had a pretty tough weekend and I didn't really feel like I was in the tournament until basically 17 and 18 happened, and then I was back in it again.

Yeah, I just couldn't believe it, to be honest.

Q. That was a heck of a way to finish your round and finish your week there. You did something similar in Thailand. You finished and then had to wait for everybody to finish. What was going through your head as you were watching those last few holes of golf being played by your competitors?

LILIA VU: I think I was just waiting for them to finish. I did what I could at that point. I did my best, and I finished strong, and then it was just a waiting game from there.

I think by the time Angel hit her shot on 17, it was time to go get warmed up because it was getting pretty cold. So that's what we did, and it turned out that way.

Q. You showed a lot of emotion on that 18th green. I know you had some history with your grandfather, obviously we've talked about that in the past. What was going through your head during that moment? Especially that event is an event every little girl dreams of winning when they grow up playing golf.

LILIA VU: Just about everything. I thought about him a lot during that final round because I was getting so frustrated. The course was playing so tough. It was long. It was cold. Pins were difficult. I just felt like I wasn't converting, and I felt like I needed to because it was the final day, and it's like the last chance to really do it.

I didn't really pay attention to the scoreboard, but I kind of knew -- I heard roars, so I thought people were going really low. I was pretty frustrated going through the back nine and trying to save par on a couple holes, but those ended up being like the best pars ever because I really needed those in the end.

I didn't really hold my composure, and I think at one point, it was 16, I hit 40 feet left of the hole, and I was telling my caddie Cole, I was like, I'm not trying to hit it 40 feet away from the hole. I'm tired of making pars. It's time to make birdies. We're running out of holes. He's like, well, it's playing difficult. Then I just kept going, and he's like, are you done yet? By the time we get to the green, you can't have that attitude, and then we just went from there.

Q. You've got a lot of golf the next three weeks. You're here this week as a UCLA alum. What's it like to be back at Wilshire? You saw the golf course earlier today?

LILIA VU: Yeah, it's very nostalgic. I was telling Cole, every Wednesday at 6:30 we'd be here in the morning. It's just very nostalgic to be in the area. It feels like home, so it's kind of nice to come back after Chevron and be here, somewhere that I know that family and friends are going to come out this weekend, too. So yeah, it should be a fun week.

Q. What is it about this golf course that you like so much? Obviously knowing all the bounces, all the lies, all the breaks, but is it just nostalgia, or do you like the way it suits your game?

LILIA VU: It's nostalgia, and there's really no golf course quite like Wilshire. I don't think you can really compare it to anything in my opinion because they're just so different from the typical surrounding LA courses around here. It's not easy. Putting is going to be difficult. I think it's going to be difficult for everybody.

It's just another target golf course. Like you want to drive it well off the tee. You want to keep it below the pin. Yeah, I think it's going to be pretty difficult and fun, though.

Q. What did you do following the tournament, in the two days since to arriving here?

LILIA VU: Well, I missed my 8:00 flight on Sunday. I mean, there was obviously a delay from the thunder and lightning, and then I finished pretty well, so I had to wait around and then the playoff happened. Honestly, I thought if I was going to miss my flight, I was wanting to go to the Taylor Swift concert that night, and I ended up winning, so that was better than going to a Taylor Swift concert, I guess.

Q. Did you and your family do anything to celebrate?

LILIA VU: No, I mean, we landed yesterday at 3:00, 3:00 p.m., LAX, went straight to our favorite restaurant, and then just got home and just packed again for another three-week stretch.

Q. What's your favorite restaurant?

LILIA VU: It's my dad's friend's restaurant. It's in Westminster. It's called Thanh My restaurant. It's just really good Vietnamese food, comfort food for sure.

Q. That's a heck of a endorsement for your dad's friend's restaurant. To be able to come home after a week like last week, how nice is that for you, to reset -- a lot of golf to be played here, playing at International Crown next week and then Founders it sounds like?

LILIA VU: Yeah, it was really nice to be home for not even a day because I drove up this morning, but yeah, it's very comforting, and then I love home, and I just love California. It's nice that we're playing here this week in LA, not too far from home, so family and friends are going to be coming out, so that will also help me, and then San Francisco after, which is nice, too, and then off to New Jersey.

Q. Playing in International Crown, Hanwha Life Plus International Crown next week, first team event as a professional. I know obviously you have eyes on the Solheim Cup, but how excited are you to represent the USA as a pro?

LILIA VU: I'm so excited. I know it's going to be cold but fun for everybody, too. It's my first time playing in a tournament like that, so I'm looking forward to it. The course is difficult. I've played there before for NCAA regionals, so I'm excited to go back there and kind of make up for what I did last time.

Q. Chatting about confidence, they say the proverbial floodgates open. You've won two LPGA Tour events in about a month and a half, maybe two months. After Thailand, I know you said you didn't feel like you changed a lot, but I saw something different in you or fans saw something different in you in Chevron. What did that first win do for you that helped you to that win on Sunday?

LILIA VU: I think it showed that you can just try your best, and whatever happens happens. There was really nothing to lose. Like in the position that I am coming in behind, my goal was just to shoot as low as possible, and then that was my only goal. If I ended up winning, then great. If not, then at least I tried. That was my only goal. There's nothing to achieve -- it was something easy to achieve.

I think by keeping the goal really small, it really helps me focus on that instead of just worry about winning, because I caught myself again on Sunday getting frustrated because I was like, how am I going to win if I'm not hitting it close, and then I hit a point where it's like, don't think about how, just go and do it, and then I happened to do it.

Q. You always talk about having fun on the golf course. When you're in that kind of attack mode or you need to go low mode, what goes through your mind? You almost looked like you may not go blank but you get into in the zone you don't know what's going on?

LILIA VU: Yeah, I don't know if it's zoning in or zoning out. I don't remember much, but I just see the pin, and I know Cole and I talked about this the last week, where he would say, hit left center of the green, it's fine if you go that way, don't hit at the pin, or like -- he doesn't say don't hit at the pin, but go left side of the green, and then I'll hit and it's directly dead on the pin, and I'm like, oops, and then he'd be like, take me through your eagle shot, and I was like, yeah, I wasn't aiming at the pin, I was aiming at the left side and it happened to turn out good.

Q. Apologies if this was asked. Your memories of Wilshire and playing here in school, how much did you get to play here, what was it like, and how were you treated here?

LILIA VU: It's amazing here. It's super fun. I said this before, it's different from all the neighboring golf courses around here. I feel like it can play really difficult if the wind gets up. It's already difficult on its own. I think around the greens it's difficult, and the putting greens are difficult.

I think it should be a good test for everybody out here. Yeah, I remember qualifying, and we would do one round at Wilshire, one round at Brentwood, Bel Air, you name it, our whole cycle, but I remember this being the most difficult for me.

Q. Following up on Sunday, I was reading how you were noting that you were just irritated. I know it hasn't been long, but as you're reflecting on it, did you ever sort of decipher what it was that had you edgy like that?

LILIA VU: Yeah, I think honestly I was getting irritated because I was running out of holes. That's what that feeling was, like okay, well, I here roars here and there behind me, I'm like fifth to last group. I'm not really in contention at the beginning. But I just felt like I was losing holes.

I was getting real annoyed and irritated really fast because on the back nine I think I made pars until 17 and 18, and I just felt like I was running out of holes, and I knew 18 if they moved it up, it's an automatic birdie, like almost automatic birdie hole because it's pretty reachable. I think that was just me getting in my own way. I say it all the time: I think I'm my own enemy. It's really nothing else. I just get in the way of things.

That happened last year, at the end of last year when I was basically trying to get my first win. I was putting so much pressure on myself that I wasn't able to win. But once I changed and I'm able to -- thank God I'm able to switch it before we even finished the round, but if I just change it to just focusing on myself and not worrying about how to win and just doing it, then it kind of solves itself.

Q. California native, obviously have your LA ties. This is technically the first year -- I know this isn't the first year we've played at Wilshire, but the first year of the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro. Purse is up, which is always nice to see. How cool is it for you, A, to play somewhere that you've played so much before, but B, see this championship try to elevate itself out here at Wilshire?

LILIA VU: Yeah, it's really cool. I feel like a very comforted feeling out here and being out here and seeing the purse go up and seeing women's golf grow. It's really great. It's just great for everybody on LPGA, and I think it's so wonderful that they upped the purse money this year.

THE MODERATOR: Lilia, thank you so much.