Charley Hull, Lilia Vu Make Major Moves to Lead Stacked AIG Women’s Open

Ally Ewing held a five shot lead heading into Moving Day at the AIG Women’s Open, but early bogeys and pack of charging LPGA stars quickly disintegrated the Mississippi native’s sizable cushion.

After a day of swirling winds and stellar shotmaking at Walton Heath, England’s Charley Hull and the 2023 Chevron champion Lilia Vu instead emerged at the top of the leaderboard, which is now heavily stacked with the Tour’s top young talent.

Hull, who jumped in contention on Friday with a 4-under 68, followed up her gutsy performance with the same number on Saturday. Playing in front of home crowds and at a venue just 35 minutes away from her home in Sunningdale, Hull made six birdies, including three in her last four holes to snag a share of the lead.

The 27-year-old sniffed a major championship title at last month’s U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, where she finished T2. Tomorrow she’ll hope to use that experience to finally capture the trophy herself, and the home crowds would make it even sweeter.

“It would be unbelievable. It would be absolutely unbelievable, what Georgia [Hall] done in 2017, or 2018, I can't remember what it was, that was unbelievable. To do that again would be unreal. But one step at a time and just go out there and have fun,” Hull said.

Charley Hull could not contain her smile after this drive!

She is firmly in contention as we approach the end of moving day... pic.twitter.com/CXXmgohGRr
— AIG Women’s Open (@AIGWomensOpen) August 12, 2023

Vu, on the other hand, has already prevailed on a major championship stage this year at the Chevron Championship. But the UCLA product hasn’t necessarily found the same form that helped her clinch that victory—until now. She carded a stellar a 5-under 67 on Saturday at Walton Heath.

“I think today was really about for me just in terms of confidence,” Vu said. “It's been since Chevron that I actually felt pretty decent about my game and where it's at.”

Vu’s highlight of the round came on the drivable par-4 10th, where she nearly holed out for an albatross.

A near ace on a par 4 🤯

Lilia Vu has a share of the lead at the @AIGWomensOpen

Watch now on @USANetwork! pic.twitter.com/JF35SsLkLg
— LPGA (@LPGA) August 12, 2023

Back in April, Vu’s major victory came after a dramatic one-hole playoff with Angel Yin, another hot player who finds herself firmly in contention heading into the final major championship Sunday of the season.

After matching Vu’s 67, Yin sits one stroke off the lead at 8-under for the tournament. Yin is tied with a player who also has one of the most consistent major records of the season, South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim.

Yin posted top 20 finishes in three of the four women’s majors this season, while Kim went four-for-four in the same category.

“I think if I get into like the final group, it will be my third final group this year, which is pretty good. Just got to stay patient and play my game. I think I'm going to be aggressive. I'm not going to be conservative. I'm going to give it my all,” Yin said.

But the all-star leaderboard doesn’t stop there.

Ewing sits in solo 5th place, and one shot behind her is Sweden’s Linn Grant at 6-under.

After starting her career in Europe, Grant finally captured her first LPGA victor in Ohio at the Dana Open last month. The 24-year-old is one of the most highly regarded ball-strikers in the women’s game and feels particularly comfortable playing links style golf, where she’s seen significant success.

“I said to Mikey, if we can get any shots under par today, that would probably give us a good chance tomorrow,” she said. “So I'm really happy with how I played and what the score turned out to be.”

Just a few names down from Grant’s sits a name that cannot be ignored: The No. 1 player in the world, Nelly Korda.

Okay @NellyKorda, we see you 👀👀

Tune into @USANetwork to catch the coverage 📺

pic.twitter.com/LUPTigUuZ0
— LPGA (@LPGA) August 12, 2023

Korda fired a 3-under 69 on Saturday, despite battling a cold putter.

“Tee-to-green really well. Putting, I’d probably give myself a D. It was—I started off pretty well and then on the back nine, I just kind of started making more mistakes with the short stick,” Korda said.

Korda might be five shots back, but if she gets settled on the greens, a last-minute run for the title could be imminent.

And Sunday at the AIG Women’s Open could shape into the major championship finish that the LPGA has been anxiously waiting for.

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