A milestone for Vietnamese golfers

Lilia Vu, right after winning the 2023 Women's Open major, became the first Vietnamese-American representative to hold the top spot in the history of the world professional golf rankings, considering both men and women.

On August 13, Vu, 25, won the 2023 Women's Open with a final score of -14, six strokes ahead of the runner-up. On the same day she won the second prestigious trophy of her career, she climbed to the top of the Rolex Rankings for professional women's golf, pushing her compatriot Nelly Korda down to second place. This is the first time the Rolex Rankings have recorded two Americans ranked first and second since its inception in 2006.

Lilia Vu lifts the Women's Open 2023 major championship trophy at Walton Health Stadium, Surrey, England on August 13. Photo: AP

"Being recognized as the best golfer in the world makes me incredibly happy, especially considering the struggles I've had over the past few months," Vu told ESPN on August 14. She entered the 2023 LPGA Tour season in February, played five tournaments in the past two months, and finished in the top 15, including winning her first trophy on the US Women's Golf Tour at the Honda LPGA Thailand.

Vu's second major was at the Chevron Championship in April. Winning that major propelled her to fourth in the Rolex Rankings. But then she went into a "rough patch" of seven tournaments and four cuts, with her best finish being a 17th-place finish at a hole-in-one tournament in May. That run of results pushed Vu to sixth in the Rolex Rankings, before she rocketed to the top spot by winning the Women's Open.

In the world professional golf rankings, the men's ranking (OWGR) was born in 1986, the women's ranking (Rolex Rankings) since 2006.

Both of these rankings, since their launch, have recorded a total of 45 Vietnamese-origin figures, including notable faces, besides Vu who has just reached the top, including Brianna Do, an American on Rolex Rankings, Tran Le Duy Nhat and Truong Chi Quan, both Vietnamese citizens on OWGR. However, in terms of career-high positions, Do only reached rank 249 in 2018, Duy Nhat reached rank 644, and Chi Quan reached 1708.

Currently, Do is ranked 545th while Duy Nhat and Chi Quan are both outside the top 2000. Do was born in 1990 and joined the LPGA Tour eight years before Vu, but every season he struggles to keep his place.

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