KPMG WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

June 20, 2023

Lilia Vu

Baltusrol Golf Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We're here with Lilia Vu. Second start at KPMG, top-10 finish last year. What's the mindset coming in this year after winning a major earlier this year?

LILIA VU: I think just going through my same process as I do through every tournament. I don't really like to make a tournament bigger than another. I just go in with the same mindset. I think that helps take pressure off of me, and I just try and focus and play my best and have fun.

Q. Can I get your thoughts on the golf course and what you saw out there?

LILIA VU: It's really pretty, tough off the tee, pretty fast greens. I think it's going to be challenging for everyone. It's a major week. It's going to be fun, and it'll be fun to play.

Q. What's the biggest thing this golf course asks you to do?

LILIA VU: Drive it well off the tee, 100 percent, and because the rough is pretty thick and the greens are firm already and just putting yourself in a good position on the fairway is really important to these pins.

Q. I know everybody tries to make majors less important than they are. Are there any mental exercises you go through to do that?

LILIA VU: I think for me, I try to stay more patient. I know there's going to be mistakes, and I have a tendency to get in my own way and wanting every shot to be perfect.

I know everyone is going to make mistakes, and I'm just going to try my hardest on the next shot.

Q. When you show up as a major having won the last major, more pressure, less pressure, or the same?

LILIA VU: I really -- I don't think there's really any pressure. I think it's the pressure I put on myself. I feel like I have really high standards, and that's when it starts to get in the way. But I'm just going to try and have fun out here.

Q. The stature of this tournament with KPMG as the title sponsor, how has that enhanced the way the public looks at women's golf over the time that they've been involved?

LILIA VU: Yeah, KPMG has supported us really well over the past couple years, and it's only getting better. This week already feels like a major, and they've done a really good job with everything, with the venue and the volunteers and the food and the hospitality.

Q. As far as female empowerment, sending out that message, as well, whether a woman wants to be a golfer or a scientist or a doctor or whatever, how important is that to send out the message that anything is possible?

LILIA VU: It's very important. I feel like nowadays it's very important for women to feel like they can do anything, and I really think they can.

I also feel that way, too.

Today was also really fun. I had an entire group of ladies in the pro-am.

Q. You're a player that tends to like the challenge of a hard golf course. When you come to a place like this where it is super firm, super fast, really tricky, do you feel like you lock in a little bit more?

LILIA VU: Yeah, I think it's more target golf and I tend to focus better when it's like that so I can play one shot at a time rather than just blindly hitting towards fairways and not really narrowing in on what I want.

Q. What have you been working on to prepare to take on this test?

LILIA VU: I've been just trying to start the ball on line and whatever happens happens.

Q. There's an awful lot of history at this golf course, this club, these golf courses. Have you learned any of it since you've been here, whether it's on the walls or plaques?

LILIA VU: Yeah, I walked by the Jack Nicklaus 1-iron shot on the 18th hole today. I thought that was really cool. I took a thumbs-up picture next to it with my coach. It's been really cool. I saw a lot of the memorabilia stuff in the clubhouse and all the locker room, so it's really cool to see all the history here.

Q. Does that make it feel like a different week for you given all of that?

LILIA VU: Yeah, I think so. I was telling a couple people at home that I was coming to play Baltusrol, and they were really excited for me, that they've played there, too, and it's hosted so many PGA Championships and a lot of big tournaments, so it's really nice to be here at a great venue.

Q. Going off of what you just said, having other people play here, how much does playing on a course that's so recognizable from its men's major championships elevate the women's game in your mind?

LILIA VU: I mean, the impact is just huge. Everyone has been super excited for this tournament to begin with. I think all of our majors are at great venues this year, and I'm super excited for it, and really happy to be here.

Q. In your opinion who is the No. 1 golfer in the world right now?

LILIA VU: Women's or men's?

Q. Women's.

LILIA VU: Jin Young. I played with her at Founders, and she didn't even come close to missing a single shot, putting, ball-striking, off the tee, just amazing. It was really cool to see -- just to see her go on and win that week, too.

If you saw her the first two days, she was going to win the tournament anyway. That's how good she was playing.

Q. You talk about it doesn't put any more pressure on you, but having won that major, I noticed a new logo on the hat. How much has your life changed since winning that major championship?

LILIA VU: Quite a lot, I think. I think it's been a whirlwind for me trying to manage everything. I feel like I've just been going nonstop on everything and kind of had like a back scare injury at Mizuho so I had to pull out, and I was just trying to get my body healthy for the next couple of weeks.

I'm really grateful to be here right now because it could have been bad with my back. But we're okay now.

Q. How do you recover from that mental test of everything that you had after Chevron? You played three or four weeks in a row, had Crown, all the media obligations. How do you mentally reset?

LILIA VU: I think just appreciating where I am now and how far I've come and what's to come and looking forward to a bunch of great tournaments coming up this season that I'm super excited for.

Q. What's the biggest difference in this version of you that's had success out here and the player that first came out on the LPGA?

LILIA VU: Maturity, growth. I feel like I put a lot of my self-worth into my golf game, and that's really not the way to do it out here because I'm more than just my golf game.

I really had to learn that the hard way. I don't take it for granted; I needed to go through that rough patch in order to get where I am today, so I appreciate that, too.

Q. Was there a moment in the journey that you kind of realized all that?

LILIA VU: Yeah, I think COVID really gave me the time to really reflect and look at what needed to change, and it was my perspective on golf and just learning how to have fun again. I could get that tatted on my forehead because I say that all the time, but my best golf comes from having fun on the golf course.

Q. This course closes with two par-5s. What will be the keys heading down the stretch to finish out?

LILIA VU: I don't know, I think it's just going to be so fun. I love par-5s, and ending like that will be something new. I haven't played a course like this with back-to-back par-5s, so it'll be really fun to see. I think it's going to be really entertaining for anyone watching.

Q. I was wondering if you could tell us the back scare, was it a shot that you hit or what happened exactly at Mizuho?

LILIA VU: Yeah, I was working out, and I wasn't very aware of just getting into a certain movement, and then just back pain shot across. It was my last move on my workout, too. It wasn't good.

Q. Was it like on the floor, like writhing in pain?

LILIA VU: Yeah, I was on the floor, and then it just shot across my back. Couldn't really get from my bed to the bathroom. I was just like, let's not make this worse. I had time leading up to this tournament, so what's another three days.

Q. We had the men's U.S. Open last week; how familiar are you with LA Country Club and what did you think of the course setup?

LILIA VU: We played quite a bit for UCLA, and it looked completely different on TV. I think just with the grandstands set up and growing out a ton of fescue, I think it was not the same course I played back in college. It looks way tougher.

It was really fun to watch, too. Seeing Wyndham win was really great.