NAPLES, Fla. – There are few things that Lilia Vu will allow herself to think about during a round of golf. Golf topics, where she sits in points races, awards standings, those are strictly off limits during her chats with caddie Cole Pensanti.
But Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce and “Curb Your Enthusiasm”? Well, that’s fair game.
“All for it,” Vu said with a laugh when asked about her thoughts on Swift’s budding romance with the Kansas City Chiefs start tight end.
“The less thoughts the better,” is Vu’s preferred approach to a round, but the world No. 1 admitted to having a busy mind on Thursday at the CME Group Tour Championship, where she carded a 2-under-par 70 to sit seven shots off the pace. She was uncomfortable having not seen the front nine this week until the first round. And, she said, a 5 p.m. hair appointment scheduled before the Rolex LPGA Awards, where she was recognized as a first-time winner and the Annika Award winner for the best major record this year, fizzled her start to the finale.
“That’s all I was thinking about. Yeah, that’s about it. I was like, am I going to make it? Didn’t make it,” Vu said about her hair appointment. “I just did my own hair before the Rolex dinner.”
Distraction-free on Friday, Vu rebounded with a near-flawless round of 66 in which she didn’t miss a fairway or green and gave up just a single bogey to vault near the top of the leaderboard heading into the weekend. Vu said all morning she had Swift’s song “Clean” running through her head. It’s her favorite Swift song and it became a topic of conversation during her round on Friday, along with the latest series she’s been watching, Season 10 of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
“Today, I had more focus. I think I just had a lot of things on my mind yesterday with so much going on. I think I was just trying to find my way through the front nine yesterday,” Vu said about the difference in her round on Friday. “Today, I felt more comfortable on the course. Gave myself a lot of opportunities for birdies. Ball striking was really good on the back nine.”
As Sunday’s finish creeps closer, it will be a challenge for Vu to continue to keep at bay everything that is on the line for her this weekend. She’s in the hunt for Player of the Year, the money title and a $2-million winner’s check. But with more episodes of “Curb” to laugh about, Swift songs to gush over and, of course, the analysis of Swift’s relationship with Kelce to pine over, there will be plenty of non-golf related topics to keep Vu’s mind at ease.
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