Vu steals show with 64 as Thai crumbles in LPGA Thailand

MANILA, Philippines — Six down with 18 holes to go, American Lilia Vu felt she still had the chance to flip the script on an all-Thai title duel, saying: “I need just one good round.”

She didn’t just better her two 66s and 70 at the Siam Country Club, but she also put in a best card of bogey-free 64 to snatch the LPGA Thailand crown from the clutches of Natthakritta Vongtaveelap in one of the most gripping LPGA finales in recent years.

Vu worked her way back from that huge deficit with a blazing birdie-run in a flight ahead of the championship group made up of Vongtaveelap and compatriot Atthaya Thitikul and French Celine Boutier, rattling of eight birdies in the first 15 holes then showing steely nerves in the stretch to pull off the improbable victory on a pair of 32s for a 72-hole total of 22-under 266 and a one-stroke escape over the Thai rookie.

Vongtaveelap, impressive in the first three rounds with her power game and exceptional putting, cracked under pressure in the early going and fell by two, recovered at the back but crumbled again on the reachable closing par-5 hole she had birdied in the first three days and missed forcing a playoff.

She did reach it in two but the ball rested too way past the hole on the front edge and needed to chip on the green to give herself a birdie chance. But she miscalculated it as she hit it straight outside with the ball barely rolling back to the green. She needed a pressure-packed 15-foot putt to force a sudden death.

She missed, enabling Vu to steal the championship, which the young Thai had virtually clinched when she stormed stormed ahead by four over Thitikul after 54 holes.

But nerves often decide big-time championships and Vu showed she had plenty of them.

In fact, she pulled off clutch par-saving putts on Nos. 16 and 17 to stay ahead of Vongtaveelap and played it conservatively on the 18th, laying up on her second shot, only to hit her approach heavy, sending the ball outside of the green.

But she kept her composure and calmly putted to within tap-in distance for par while leaving the door open for Vongtaveelap for a playoff.

The Thai, however, failed to deliver.

Vongtaveelap ended up with a 71 after sterling rounds of 67-65-64 and wound up second at 267 while Thitikul birdied the 18th for a 68 and a 268 as the Thais’ settled for a 2-3 finish to the big disappointment of the home crowd.

Yuka Saso, meanwhile, mounted a challenge with an eagle on No. 10 and back-to-back birdies from No. 14. But the ICTSI-backed 2021 US Women’s Open champion bogeyed the next two and finished with a 70 and a 276 for joint 20th.

“My dad said I still have a chance despite being behind by 6. Just one good round,” said Vu, who switched on an attack mode from the get-go and birdied two of the first three holes.

In contrast, Vongtaveelap, a picture of consistency and steadfastness in moving day, felt the heat after birdying the par-5 No. 1, yielding a stroke on the next then double-bogeying the par-3 No. 4 as she grappled with her driver and irons.

After closing her frontside stint with back-to-back birdies, Vu stretched her birdie run to No. 12 to seize a two-shot lead over Vongtaveelap, who, however, struck back with birdies on Nos. 12 and 14 to threaten within one.

But she missed birdie chances on the next three holes and missed her target on the 18th.

Swede Maja Stark and Boutier matched 271s after a 69 and 70, respectively, for a share of fourth in the $1.7 million event, the first of two LPGA events in Southeast Asia. Next up is the Women’s World Championship at Sentosa in Singapore beginning Thursday.

Former world No. 1 Jin Young Ko also rallied with a 64 but ran out of holes, ending up tied for sixth at 272 with Irish Leona Maguire, who fired 65, world No. 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand, who double bogeyed No. 16 and dropped a stroke on the next but birdied the last to save a 69, and world No. 2 Nelly Korda of US, who birdied two of the last four for her own version of a 69.