A year ago, Lilia Vu arrived at the Chevron Championship at the Club at Carlton Woods, in Houston, as the defending champion in name only.

Vu, who cannonballed into the pond in 2023 after winning her first major championship, was battling a debilitating back injury that forced her to withdraw from her title defense. But the injury didn’t just cost Vu a major start — it also made her question whether or not professional golf was still her present and future.

“I was on the range and I couldn’t hit the ball past 40 yards,” Vu said Tuesday at her pre-tournament press conference at the Chevron. “If I’m not doing that, how would I ever finish a round, you know, let alone tee off? At that point, that was — you think about different things. Not even defending that tournament. I can’t even play one hole, so that was kind of going through my mind. It was a good time to reevaluate everything.”

The injury forced Vu to take time off. That time away was agonizing for a former world No. 1 who burns to compete. But it also allowed Vu to take a step back, to separate the golfer from the person, and find ways to become more well-rounded.

“[The injury] affected me deeply,” Vu said. “I think not being able to compete, which is something I love so much, I think that’s why I do it. I love golf. When you love your job and you love competing and you’re not able to do that, and your body is letting you down, it’s kind of hard. You feel handicapped.

“I think it teaches you a lot of lessons that I feel like sometimes you need balance in your life,” Vu said later. “I think I got caught up with golf being my identity, and during that two months I saw a lot of family, a lot friends. I couldn’t hit for a couple weeks, so I was just doing other things. Read a lot. Listened to audiobooks. Just tried my best to become a better person. That’s all I could improve at that point.”

Among the books Vu read was “Be Water, My Friend,” by Shannon Lee, Bruce Lee’s daughter.

The book centers on the philosophies Lee followed throughout his life, asking readers to look at their own lives through a different lens. It has given Vu a new vision to help chart her career and life.

“Talks about how water, when you hit water, it hits you back. It’s very adaptable,” Vu said. “It can be so beautiful and serene. At the same time, there could be a storm coming, and you could see how destructive it is. My takeaway from that book is to be adaptable. That’s what I try to be every single day.”

After two months away, Vu returned to the course in June at the Meijer LPGA Classic. She won. She finished second in her next start at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and carded another second-place finish in her defense at the AIG Women’s Open.

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Once filled with doubt, Vu found confidence rooted in a changed perspective and a hyper focus on “body and swing awareness.”

Shortly after she withdrew from last year’s Chevron, Vu added John Yamada, a movement specialist, to her team. Yamada helps Vu maintain the correct posture to prevent back issues from flaring up again. Vu says Yamada will tell her when she’s “out of posture,” and it’s often on her “worst shot of the day.”

A year later, Vu sees her 2024 trials as something she needed. It helped her center herself and find peace beyond golf. It made her more aware of what was happening off the course and with her body.

She arrives back at the Chevron ranked fourth in the world. It’s a triumphant return even before a tee shot has been hit.

“I would definitely say that it was a motivation,” Vu said of getting back to the Chevron healthy. “But I think last year I was so much in panic with [whether I] would ever play a golf round again, let alone a tournament round.

“I would say I’m in a much better place.”

Where she once wasn’t sure what the future held, Vu is now confident she can handle whatever the future holds. Like water, she plans to adapt to whatever life throws at her, both on and off the course.

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