World No. 2 withdraws before tee time in major-title defense

THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Lilia Vu’s title defense of her first profession main championship ended before it might even start.

Citing a again damage, Vu, the No. 2 Player in the World who prevailed in a playoff a 12 months in the past on the Chevron Championship for the primary of two main wins final season, withdrew from this 12 months’s version simply before 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 instructed the LPGA a again damage “flared up” throughout her warmup.

“I am so sorry to have to withdraw from The Chevron Championship, as I was really looking forward to defending my first major title,” Vu stated in an announcement posted on Instagram Thursday afternoon. “I’ve been coping with a again damage for some time now. Some days are higher than others, and right now was sadly not an excellent day. During 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 match forward of my tee time. I’m planning to return residence to see my medical doctors instantly to find out the most effective applicable subsequent steps.

“I want to thank everyone at Chevron for their support and understanding. I am so proud to be a Chevron champion and can’t wait to get back next year. Thank you as well to the fans and volunteers at the course – you are in for a wonderful four days!”

Jennifer Song changed Vu in her threesome with World No. 1 Nelly Korda and 2022 U.S. Women’s Open champion Minjee Lee.

It’s the third occasion Vu has withdrawn from this season as she has struggled in the follow-up to her breakout Player of the Year marketing campaign. She gained 4 occasions in 2023, together with her first two majors, at this occasion and the AIG Women’s Open.

Vu has only one prime 10 this season and adopted it with back-to-back WDs because of a again damage in February and March. She made it by means of her subsequent two begins in late March, however skipped the T-Mobile Match Play in Vegas.

Vu stated in the leadup to this week that she was going again to her full coaching regiment as she labored to get well from the damage.

“I’ve definitely kind of put lifting kind of on the back burner and just let myself recover. Seeing my physical therapist at home almost every single day,” she stated Tuesday. “It form of kills me that I can’t go and prepare like absolutely the way in which I prefer to, as a result of that’s one thing I like to do.

“I got back into it last week and was fine. I feel like I’m in a good area for this week.”