On Sunday, Lilia Vu produced an exhibition of golf as a final round 67 gave her a commanding victory over home favourite, Charley Hull.
Arguably, with the AIG Women's Open being her second Major win of the year, you could say Vu has enjoyed an incredible 2023. However, according to the American, she "didn't know if I could ever win again," following a poor run of results after her Chevron Championship victory in April.
Speaking after her round, Vu stated: "It feels surreal to have this kind of Sunday and just to come out with a win, given the past couple of months. I've been struggling with my game and now I'm just feeling good, and yeah, I'm really happy."
Later in the interview, she went on to add: "Honestly I just wanted to win golf tournaments out here on the LPGA. It's been a crazy year for me, doing pretty well at the beginning of the season and just hit a lull in the middle, just struggling. I thought at the US Open after I played so bad, I didn't know if I could ever win again...
"I mean, I was still just getting out the scar tissue from the US Open and playing so horribly there, and just not feeling like myself. I thought the Chevron and winning in Honda and Thailand, that was going to be it for me for my career."
Following her victory at Walton Heath, Vu will now head to the Home of Golf in 2024 as the defending champion, when St Andrews will play host to the AIG Women's Open.
"I am so excited for that tournament. I've been talking about it all week. I think I'm going to cry when I cross the bridge on 18, honestly," explained Vu, whose best result since the Chevron Championship was a tie for 17th at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play.
To put the icing on the cake, Vu is also set to move to the top of the World Rankings, following Nelly Korda and Hyo-joo Kim's results at Walton Heath. "Being the best in the world, that's just crazy to me, just thinking about the struggle I had this year and to come out with that has been -- it's just incredible," claimed Vu.
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