At the 2021 Garden City Charity Classic, Beth Wu was neck and neck down the stretch with best friend and eventual champion Lilia Vu. Only one shot separated them heading to No. 17 tee but a bogey on the par 3 by Wu derailed her chances.
“Knowing me, I forgot [about that putt on No. 17]. I probably went to bed that night thinking about the round, but there was no point to dwell. I learned from it,” said Wu. “I was very happy for Lils. It was her week to win.
“Knowing Lils, she kind of had a rough year before, so it was nice to see her come back and get a win. Then next thing you know, she wins two more events and finishes No. 1 for the season. It was inspiring, to watch her get back to where she was [on the LPGA], for me going into this year to do the same.”
The two spent the first half of the 2021 season traveling together before Lilia, or Lils as Wu calls her, started traveling with her mother Yvonne. It’s a bond that Vu and Wu share that not even a trophy could come between.
“She’s my person,” Wu said with a smile.
“Lils and I grew up playing golf together in SoCal. I've known Lils since we were 8 or 9 and we’ve played golf ever since, then ended up being teammates and now best friends.”
Wu’s earliest memories of their friendship are swimming after rounds at Diamond Bar Golf Course in her hometown of Diamond Bar, California. That was just the beginning. Eventually, Vu and Wu ended up at UCLA together. They’d enjoy Din Tai Fung at Westfield Century City on a weekly basis.
“Definitely a lot of food memories at UCLA,” said Wu.
On the course, Wu can only remember two things: the eight individual titles Vu captured, one more than LPGA Tour winner Bronte Law and major champion Patty Tavatanakit, and putting.
“Lils always winning and always making long putts. Anything from three feet to 50, we knew was going in,” Wu said. “That’s the thing about Lilia and it still holds true. I’ve never met anyone else who is better at putting than Lils. She’s also such a goofball and could always make people laugh.”
It’s more than just the fun times that Wu can rely on Vu, and vice versa. When there’s a serious matter at hand, they go to each other.
“I talk to Lils almost every day,” said Wu. “I had a bit of a rough week in Utah, and I asked her, ‘What do I do?’ She was telling me to have more self-belief, that everyone else believes in me and that I just need to believe in myself.
“That’s really the key for me anyway, so it's funny how she mentioned that. It was exactly what I needed to hear.”
While inspiration abounds, there’s no doubt Wu has her sights set on repeating what the defending champ was able to accomplish last year at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course in Garden City, Kansas. For Vu, it was the first step in finding her way back to the LPGA Tour. For Wu, it would be that breakthrough she needs to join her friend on the biggest stage in women’s professional golf. It’s just a matter of time before all is right in the world and Vu and Wu are reunited again.
“We both want to be on the LPGA together. She’s like, ‘Please come here.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m trying my best, dude,’” Wu said laughingly. “Missing the cut [in Utah] gave me an extra day to release any feelings I had about my game and go into another work week with no expectations.”
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