Lilia Vu of Fountain Valley, California is the 2023 AIG British Women’s Open champion. On Sunday, she completed her fourth round at the Walton Heath Club in Surrey, England by posting a four round score of -14. Vu beat her closest competitor, Charley Hull of Kettering, England, by six strokes.
After the third round on Saturday, Vu and Hull had identical scores of -9, and were tied for the lead. However, in the fourth and final round, Vu was marvelous, while Hull was below ordinary. Vu had six birdies and one bogey for the five-under-par 67. She birdied the second, ninth, 10th, 12th, 16th and 18th holes, and bogeyed the 15th hole.
Hull meanwhile got off to a tough start as she went two over par on the front nine, before delivering an amazing eagle from the bunker on the 11th hole. However, Hull was unable to carry any momentum after posting a score of -2 on the 11th, and was +1 over the last seven holes. The fan favourite had been experiencing a cold recently which might have impacted her fourth round play.
This was Vu’s second major title this season. Her first came at the Chevron Championship on April 23 in Woodlands, Texas.
Vu is the first American golfer since Juli Inkster of Santa Cruz, California to win two majors in women’s golf in the same season. Inkster won the 1999 LPGA Championship and 1999 United States Women’s Open.
Since Inkster, five women’s golfers have won two majors in the same calendar year. They have been Karrie Webb of Australia (2000 and 2001), Annika Sorenstam of Sweden (2003 and 2005), Yani Tseng of Taiwan (2010 and 2011), Inbee Park of South Korea (2013 and 2015), and Jin-young Ko of South Korea (2019). Park actually won the first three majors of the year in 2013.
