Vu wins Meijer Classic after three-way playoff
birdied the third playoff hole to defeat Lexi Thompson and Australian Grace Kim and win the Meijer LPGA Classic yesterday in Belmont, Mich.
Vu, Thompson and Kim all finished at 16-under 272 after 72 holes at Blythefield Country Club. After they replayed the par-5 18th hole twice, with each player making birdie both times, the trio went to the par-5 fourth hole.
Vu was the only player to put her drive in the fairway, and Thompson and Kim could merely punch out for their second shots.
Vu’s second shot landed in a greenside bunker, but she escaped and left herself roughly 6 feet for birdie.
her competitors missed longer birdie tries, Vu sank her putt to claim her fifth career LPGA win and her first of 2024.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Vu said. “I couldn’t believe I won this week. I think I was setting my bar really low so that I could meet it.
“I think because I tend to get in my own way when I’m trying to win, that’s when I don’t win most of the time, so just trying to stay in my lane, take advantage of all the good shots, and make all the birdie putts that I get.”
Thompson – the 11-time LPGA Tour winner who announced last month that she will retire from fulltime competition at season’s end – came up just short of ending her fiveyear title drought.
“Knowing I was five shots behind starting the day, I knew I had to have the pedal down and make a lot of birdies from the jump,” Thompson said.
“I can only control what I can control, so I just tried to focus one shot at a time and play within myself and my emotions. That’s all I could do. Whatever happens with the result happened, so happy with the result.” – Field Level Media