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U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPAugust 10, 2017Lilia VuSan Diego, California Q. You birdied the first two holes it looked like. LILIA VU: Yeah. Q. Talk to me about those first two birdies. LILIA VU: I think I set myself up pretty well. I hit in the fairway, and I just aimed at the pin, and I just hit it there. I don't know. It was different from the first round. The first round was kind of tough hitting it and placing it, but the second round was pretty good. Q. And then the 5th hole, it looked like you had a birdie there in both of your matches. Do you remember that one? LILIA VU: Oh, yeah, yeah, I remember. Yeah. Q. What do you like about that hole? LILIA VU: Well, the first match I made a super long putt. It was probably 15 to 17 yards, and then the second round, I think it was like -- it wasn't into the wind, so I had a really short shot. It was like 120, and then I hit it pretty close. And the greens were more receptive in the afternoon. It wasn't as hard. Everything just stopped where it was. Q. Has that been pretty consistent in afternoon play? LILIA VU: No, today is slower than the other days. It's like softer. There was like big divots. Usually there's not. Q. You're heading to the quarterfinals. That's a big deal. How do you feel about that? LILIA VU: I'm actually pretty happy about it because I haven't been able to qualify for this tournament since I was 13, so this is like my first time -- second time back. It's a pretty big deal because all my friends get to play it every year, and I always miss out because I don't qualify. Luckily this year I was exempt, so I got to play this year. Q. You played in the Girls' Junior five times, which is a big thing in and of itself because sometimes it's harder to qualify for than the Women's Am. LILIA VU: Oh, really? I didn't know that. I always struggled with Women's Am. Q. Really? LILIA VU: I think when I got in when I was 13, I was also a first alternate. Q. So you played in the Women's Open, too, in 2015? LILIA VU: Yeah, but I didn't make the cut, so I didn't get exempt. I was like hoping to make the cut, but I didn't. Q. This is crazy, this is your very first Women's Am. LILIA VU: Second Women's Am, but it's been six years. Q. So when you get in at 13 as an alternate, were you thinking, I'm going to play in the next bunch of these, right? LILIA VU: I don't remember. I just remember like -- I think Jessica Korda was playing that tournament and Alison Lee, and I was like, wow, they're so good. Those are the people I looked up to. It's just cool to see them now on Tour. I remember that's exactly who I saw, Alison and Jessica. Q. At that time 13 was still extremely young for this tournament. LILIA VU: Yeah, I think the only younger person was Hannah O'Sullivan at that tournament. Q. I wanted to ask you about -- because we're in San Diego, just your experience in Junior World, four times, right, five-year stretch? LILIA VU: Yeah. Q. So you're familiar with San Diego and obviously Southern California, but do you get a good vibe when you come down here? LILIA VU: I do. I really like San Diego, so I have good memories here, and this course reminds me of all San Diego courses together. I don't know why, but I get that vibe here. Q. Had you played that much here before this year? Had you played in rounds of golf here? LILIA VU: Actually I haven't been here since maybe Junior World, Torrey Pines, since I was like 16. Q. So what's been the key to your week? LILIA VU: To my week? Q. Yeah. LILIA VU: I don't have like a strategy here. I just try to place my ball in the fairway. It's kind of hard to hit in the fairway lately. Just aim for the middle or leave myself an uphill putt because the downhill putts are really, really fast. You just touch it and it just goes. Q. Have you played well this week? LILIA VU: Today I did. Today I finally got the gist of the green. And the first day. The second day was rough. I just smashed everything past the hole. Q. What's it feel like to get to the round of eight here? LILIA VU: I don't know how to feel. I'm really excited. Q. It's kind of hard to tell. LILIA VU: Yeah, I'm excited. I'm just really nervous. I usually don't get this far in match play. I don't know. Q. Do you kind of -- LILIA VU: I used to be like -- I had this thing where I'm like, I can't do match play. But over time I think it's improved. College there's some match play tournaments that definitely improved me. Q. Do you think it's because when you're young and you're playing these big tournaments, the only time you play match play is when there's a lot of pressure? LILIA VU: Yeah. Q. Did you put a lot of pressure on yourself or does it come from other places? LILIA VU: I think I put a lot of pressure on myself. I don't really like -- I feel like when you play match play, you can just like play really aggressive. You get one bad hole, it doesn't really matter. You can just keep going and get it back on another hole. That's why I like match play a little better than stroke play because your score doesn't matter, you can just like go for every pin. Q. So this week do you feel like you've overcome -- match play sounds like it was in your head a little bit. Do you feel like this is -- seems like you've come full circle a little. LILIA VU: I kind of play match play against the course rather than my opponent. Like I don't think too much about where she's hitting. I'm like, okay, if I make a birdie, I'll probably win the hole. That's worked out well. Q. And your mom is caddying for you this week? LILIA VU: Yeah, well, my brother caddied for me on the stroke play days, and my mom is going to caddie for me in match play. Q. Does your brother play, as well? LILIA VU: Yeah, he plays for UC Riverside. Q. What's it like for your mom to be the caddie? LILIA VU: She just pushes my cart. Q. She's not doing anything else? LILIA VU: Yeah, she like cleans my ball. The basic stuff. Q. What's her name? LILIA VU: Yvonne. Q. Has she caddied for you very much? LILIA VU: Yeah, she actually caddied for me a lot. Like even when I qualified for the U.S. Open. Q. Looks like you'll probably play Lucy Li. Do you have any history with her at all? LILIA VU: No. She's so young. Both my teammates played her this week and lost. Q. Are you going to pick their brains tonight? They'll just tell you to stick to your game, right? LILIA VU: No, I just want to go in kind of like I am right now. I don't want to think about other things or other people. Q. You were so young when you first played in the Women's Am. When you saw her make it when she was 10, 11 years old, the Women's Open and the Women's Am, were you still blown away by it? LILIA VU: I was really impressed. Yeah, I was really impressed. We didn't play the U.S. Open the same year. I think I played 2015 and she played -- Q. 2014. LILIA VU: Oh, she played before? I didn't know that. It doesn't really affect me. I don't think about that a lot. It's probably better that way because it's just you and the golf course. Q. Were you excited to see this course on the schedule, like a closer game for you? LILIA VU: Yeah, I was really hoping to -- Q. Do you have friends and family that are going to come down? LILIA VU: My aunt and my cousin are here. Q. And they don't normally get to come? LILIA VU: They do. They come to my tournaments usually, the ones in California. Q. Lots of Pac-12 players in the top 16. Isn't that cool? LILIA VU: Oh, yeah, a lot of good players are here. But I see buy at often, so it's really cool. Arizona like Gigi, Haley, Crystal was here, and Robynn, she's my best friend. I don't know how she's doing right now. Q. She had a great morning. LILIA VU: Yeah, she did. She played 10 holes. That's ridiculous. She had like three hours between rounds. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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