Jack Hirsh/GOLF
THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Lilia Vu’s title protection of her first profession main championship ended earlier than it may even start.
Citing a again harm, Vu, the No. 2 Participant within the World who prevailed in a playoff a yr in the past on the Chevron Championship for the primary of two main wins final season, withdrew from this yr’s version simply earlier than her first spherical tee time.
LPGA officers stated Vu was not on the tee for her 1:10 p.m. CT begin and had alerted them forward of time that she was withdrawing. She advised the LPGA a again harm “flared up” throughout her warmup.
“I’m so sorry to need to withdraw from The Chevron Championship, as I used to be actually trying ahead to defending my first main title,” Vu stated in an announcement posted on Instagram Thursday afternoon. “I’ve been coping with a again harm for some time now. Some days are higher than others, and right this moment was sadly not a very good day. Throughout my regular warm-up routine, I had extreme discomfort in my again and I felt that I couldn’t compete as much as my requirements and made the choice to withdraw from the event forward of my tee time. I’m planning to return residence to see my medical doctors instantly to find out the most effective acceptable subsequent steps.
“I wish to thank everybody at Chevron for his or her help and understanding. I’m so proud to be a Chevron champion and may’t wait to get again subsequent yr. Thanks as nicely to the followers and volunteers on the course – you might be in for a beautiful 4 days!”
Jennifer Music changed Vu in her threesome with World No. 1 Nelly Korda and 2022 U.S. Girls’s Open champion Minjee Lee.
It’s the third occasion Vu has withdrawn from this season as she has struggled within the follow-up to her breakout Participant of the Yr marketing campaign. She received 4 occasions in 2023, together with her first two majors, at this occasion and the AIG Girls’s Open.
Vu has only one prime 10 this season and adopted it with back-to-back WDs as a result of a again harm in February and March. She made it via her subsequent two begins in late March, however skipped the T-Cell Match Play in Vegas.
Vu stated within the leadup to this week that she was going again to her full coaching regiment as she labored to recuperate from the harm.
“I’ve positively sort of put lifting sort of on the again burner and simply let myself recuperate. Seeing my bodily therapist at residence nearly each single day,” she stated Tuesday. “It sort of kills me that I can’t go and practice like totally the way in which I wish to, as a result of that’s one thing I like to do.
“I acquired again into it final week and was advantageous. I really feel like I’m in a very good space for this week.”