Vu Wins Chevron, Hardy and Riley Team Up to Win Zurich | Sunday Swing

Welcome back to another edition of the Sunday Swing presented by 2nd Swing Golf. This week in the world of professional golf, the PGA Tour was in New Orleans for the Zurich Classic, the only team event on the PGA Tour schedule. On the LPGA Tour, the world’s best were in The Woodlands, TX for the season’s first major – the Chevron Championship. 

The Zurich Classic - Tournament History 

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans dates back to 1958. Played at Pete Dye’s TPC Louisiana, this event was originally played as a standard stroke play event until the PGA Tour decided to make the change to a team format in 2016. Players pair up with one other player and play four rounds together as a team (two rounds of best ball, and two rounds of alternate shot). Last season Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele set a new tournament scoring record when they won with a blistering -29 for the week. The course itself is a classic Pete Dye design featuring a lot of water and a ton of strategically placed bunkers. With the 18th being a high-risk, high-reward par 5, spectators are usually in for an exciting finish.

The Big Swing

This week the big swing goes to a pair of first-time winners in Davis Riley and Nick Hardy. Heading into the week, a lot of the discussion was centered around the defending champs, Cantlay and Schauffele, who have both been playing great golf this season. Hardy and Riley started out a little slower with rounds of 64 and 66, falling behind some of the big-name teams. On Saturday, the pair caught fire and posted a 10-under par 62 to give themselves a chance heading into Sunday. During the final round, the big story early was the Canadian duo of Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor who were surging up the leaderboard. The pair birdied the last three holes on the front nine to turn in 31, and followed that up with four more birdies on holes 10-13. They would par out and tie the alternate shot scoring record of 63, set by Cantlay and Schauffele earlier in the week. In the meantime, the final groups (Sungjae Im/Keith Mitchell and Wyndham Clark/Beau Hossler) had started to stall and lost their lead to Riley and Hardy. Riley put an exclamation point on a fantastic back nine with a birdie from off the green on the par-3 17th. Ultimately, they’d shoot five-under on the back to bring their total to 30-under-par, setting a new tournament record and two shots clear of any other team in the field. 

Winner’s Bags - Davis Riley & Nick Hardy 

This week Davis Riley and Nick Hardy used a combination of pristine ball striking and clutch putting to break into the winner’s circle and set a new tournament scoring record at the Zurich Classic. Both players are Titleist tour staffers, so their bags carry some similarities. Riley games a TSR3 driver (8 degrees), TSR3 (15 degrees) and TSR2 (18 degrees) fairway woods, a combo of T100 (4), 620 CB (5-6), and 620 MB (7-9) irons, Vokey SM9 wedges (46, 50, 56, 60 degrees), and a Scotty Cameron Phantom X 7.2 prototype. Meanwhile, Hardy’s bag consists of a TSi2 driver (8 degrees), TSi2 fairway wood (15 degrees), a combo of Callaway Forged UT (18 degrees), T100 (4), and 620 MB (5-PW) irons, Vokey SM9 wedges (50, 56, 60 degrees), and a Swag prototype putter.

In the World of Women’s Golf

This week on the LPGA Tour, a major championship is being played for the first time this season for the ladies. Until 2022, the event was known was known for one of the most unique traditions in golf -- the winner leaping into Poppie’s Pond off the 18th green. While the venue has changed, it remains a highly-coveted title to win and a chance to make history. This year the Chevron Championship is being hosted at Carlton Woods, a Jack Nicklaus signature course. 

While a flurry of names made their way towards the top throughout the week, on Sunday afternoon it became a three-horse race between seasoned champion Nelly Korda and two up-and-coming stars seeking their first major win: Lilia Vu and Angel Yin. 

Korda’s long putt for eagle on the 72nd hole moved to her nine-under-par and ultimately a solo third place finish. However, it was Vu who held the clubhouse lead after a four-under-par 68 on Sunday to get to -10. The 24-year-old Yin had an eagle putt of her own on the 18th to get to -11 and win the championship, but it didn’t fall, and the result was a playoff between Yin and Vu at the season's first major. 

The pair would replay the par-5 18th, a superb risk-reward finishing hole that requires sound execution and strategy. Both players hit good tee shots into the fairway to open up the playoff – and both decided to go for the green in two. Yin was a bit further back so she was the first to play her approach shot from 201 yards. 

Yin missed the center of the clubface, and the result was a splash in the penalty area. Vu was able to knock her ball over the back edge of the green in two to hold the clear advantage. However, Yin wasn’t done yet. After taking the penalty stroke, she hit her fourth to 10 feet, leaving her a chance should Vu fail to get up and down for the birdie. Vu elected to putt from off the back edge and came up well short and left herself some 20 feet. 

BANG. It didn’t matter. Vu made a beautiful stroke and buried it in the center, and shortly thereafter celebrated her first major win with the traditional jump into the pond. 

Winner’s Bag – Lilia Vu

Lilia Vu is a major winner for the first time after her thrilling victory at the Chevron Championship. After graduating from the Epson Tour at the end of 2021, Vu has now won twice on the LPGA Tour and secured a major in her last five starts. She’s also vaulted to the top of the Race to the CME Globe season-long standings. Vu’s bag consists of a unique combination of some newer and some older equipment, including a TaylorMade Stealth driver, TaylorMade Stealth fairway wood, Srixon ZX hybrid, Srixon Z585 (4) and Srixon Z785 (5-PW) irons, Titleist Vokey SM8 wedges, and a Scotty Cameron GoLo 5 putter.