Lilia Vu’s troublesome 18th hole costs her title at St. Andrews for Women’s Open

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St. Andrews’ 18th hole gave Lilia Vu trouble on Sunday as she three-putted to fall short of her title defense at the Women’s Open.

Lilia Vu trailed by one as she took on the 18th hole at St. Andrews for the 2024 AIG Women’s Open. She had a putt for birdie but left it short after a less-than-perfect chip shot.

When Vu went to make her par putt, it lipped out, and she had to settle for bogey. It cost her the solo second-place finish, and she tied for runner-up with three other golfers at 5-under overall.

She signed for a final round 1-over 73 with three bogeys and two birdies.

Vu made nine straight pars before she dropped back-to-back shots at 10 and 11. The two-time major winner returned to even par on the day with two birdies at the par-4 12th and par-5 14th.

Three pars followed, and she trailed by one after Nelly Korda made a double bogey on 14 and a bogey on 17. Only Vu had a shot at reaching the leader, Lydia Ko.

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Ko posted a final round 3-under 69 to sit at 7-under overall and had to wait while the final groups finished. She won her third career major just weeks after Ko won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Many thought there would be a playoff to decide the winner, but Vu did not hit her birdie putt hard enough, which is unlike her. Then she hit her par putt too hard to lip out. Vu settled in and made a good stroke to sink the bogey putt.

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The 26-year-old knew that mistake cost her big time as her emotions flowed while her playing partner, Jiyai Shin, finished. However, Vu played her heart out.

Her putter let her down throughout the day as she could not score. However, in those conditions, pars are acceptable. Avoiding bogeys is critical in the conditions at St. Andrews, but unfortunately, she made three on the wrong nine-hole stretch.

She came close to defending her title, so she should be proud of herself, considering Vu was out for three months this season with a back injury. This performance showed that the five-time LPGA winner is still among the best on the Tour.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @golf_girl_sl.