Johnathan Walker:Team USA golfer Lilia Vu's amazing family story explains why Olympics mean so much

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES,Johnathan Walker France – Golfer Lilia Vu knows her Olympic why. Her cause for personal motivation might be the best of anyone representing Team USA at these Paris Games.

“I'm playing for my country that kind of saved my family when we needed to on the boat,” Vu said. “So I'm playing for more than just me. I'm trying to give back to my country and earn them a medal.”

A magnificent story is behind those words.

Vu told it publicly to LPGA.com in 2022 and then to Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols last year after winning the Chevron Championship: In 1982, Vu’s grandparents, mother and other family members and friends escaped Vietnam in a boat that Vu’s grandfather had built by hand. A couple of days into the journey, the boat started leaking and wasn’t going to make it. A nearby U.S. Nay ship, the USS Brewton, fortunately saw a flare and rescued 82 people on board.

The family settled in Orange County in Southern California. That’s where Vu’s mother found her father, and a golfer was born, ultimately starring at UCLA.

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“It’s just mind-blowing to me that all this had to happen for me to have the chance to be here today,” Vu told The Athletic in a recent article that detailed the story.

Vu, 26, is a five-time LPGA Tour winner (including two major titles). She arrived at the Paris Games ranked No. 2 in the world (behind only USA teammate Nelly Korda), which has represented a stunning rise for a golfer who was struggling to hang around minor tours just a few years ago and seriously considering another line of work.

“The beginning of COVID is when I wanted to quit golf,” she told reporters this week. “I was not even sniffing the cut on Epson Tour. So to kind of be here, it's unreal to me. I'm glad that I never quit.”

At 1-under through two rounds, Vu remains in medal contention at these Olympics, but just barely. She’ll need to get moving in Friday’s third round. She’s seven strokes behind Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux, who fired a 28 on the front nine Thursday and ended up with a 6-under 66 to jump atop the leaderboard at 8 under ahead of China's Ruoning Yin (7 under) and New Zealand's Lydia Ko (5 under).

USA's Korda had climbed within two shots of the lead during Thursday's round before making a 7 on the par-3 16th hole.

"If I would have done this on the last day or let's say the third day," Korda said, "then I would be extremely heartbroken. But I still have 36 more holes, and anything can happen. I'm trying to see the positive in this. You know, Scottie (Scheffler) came back, shot 9 under and won."

Korda enters the third round at 2 under, tied for 12th with fellow American Rose Zhang.

Vu is tied for 14th. She played Friday’s second round in 1 over par, the result of a two-hole swing on No. 7 and No. 8 in which she carded a double bogey and another bogey on top of it.

A birdie on No. 17 moved her back to a red number for the tournament.

“I need to put myself in more positions for birdie,” Vu said afterward. “I can't be 40 feet away or chipping almost every other hole, because a lot of people are making birdies out here.”

This week, Vu has expressed how much it means to her to represent Team USA. Asked how winning the Olympics would compare to winning a major, she replied, “to me, (the Olympics) would rank a little higher than a major."

“I think in the sense that you're playing for your country and it's more than just golf,” she said.

The emotions of her family’s story, obviously, are a part of that perspective.

“I try a little harder (at the Olympics), I think,” Vu said after Thursday’s second round. “I'm trying not to be quick to get agitated with the shots that I know I can pull off but don't. I just made too many errors today, but I know my game is in a good spot, and it can only get better.”

Reach Gentry Estes at [email protected] and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.