World No. 1 Lilia Vu on course to accomplish something no American player has in nearly a decade

Lilia Vu’s breakout season has her in position to become the first American to win the Rolex LPGA Player of the Year Award since Stacy Lewis in 2014. Before Lewis won it for the first time in 2012, no American won the title since Beth Daniel in 1994.

As the LPGA season nears its final stretch, Vu holds a 21-point advantage over Celine Boutier and Ruoning Yin with a total of 154 points. Lydia Ko won last year’s POY Award with 180 points. Those who win a POY title also earn an LPGA Hall of Fame point.

Player of the Year points are distributed only to top-10 finishes on the LPGA. A victory at a non-major is worth 30 points while a runner-up showing is worth 12.

There are seven events left on the LPGA schedule, and this week’s Volunteers of America stop in Texas marks the last domestic event until mid-November.

Here’s how the top five players on the POY list currently stand:

1. Lilia Vu - 154 points

Lilia Vu lifts the AIG Women’s Open trophy at Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England. (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Currently the No. 1 player in the world, Vu is a three-time winner on the LPGA this season including two majors (Chevron and AIG Women’s British Open). Even so, Vu’s season has been rather inconsistent for someone who has experienced so much success. The 25-year-old has only one additional top-10 finish in 2023 along with four missed cuts.

2. Celine Boutier - 133 points

Celine Boutier celebrates with the Amundi Evian Championship trophy following victory in the Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club on July 30, 2023, in Evian-les-Bains, France. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

Boutier’s three-win season includes a victory on home soil as she became the first Frenchwoman to win the Amundi Evian Championship. Should Boutier overtake Vu, she’d become the first player from France to win the Rolex Player of the Year Award.

Ranked outside the top 100 in driving distance, Boutier relies on consistent ball-striking to make big moves.

3. Ruoning Yin - 133 points

Ruoning Yin raises the championship trophy after winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-USA TODAY Sports

Yin, known on tour as “Ronnie,” would become the first player from China to win the POY. The 21-year-old is one of the best ball-strikers on tour and has finished third in three of her last four events on tour. She became the second player from China to win a major earlier this season at the KPMG Women’s PGA at Baltusrol.

4. Allisen Corpuz - 105 points

Allisen Corpuz celebrates with the Harton S. Semple Trophy after winning the 78th U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links on July 09, 2023, in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Winner of the prestigious U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, Corpuz trails Vu by 49 points and would need a stellar finish to the season to get it done. The 25-year-old Hawaiian missed her last two cuts on the LPGA but showed great moxie in her Solheim Cup debut in Spain, putting up a 2-1-1 record.

5. Jin Young Ko - 87 points

South Korea’s Ko Jin-young hits a shot during the Evian Championship, a women’s LPGA major golf tournament in Evian-les-Bains, French Alps, on July 29, 2023. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)

It’s been an unusual year for the former No. 1, who finished second in her most recent LPGA start back in August. Ko won the HSBC Women’s World Championship in March and the Cognizant Founder Cup in May and looked like she might have another banner year.

But she then failed to contend in any of the summer majors. She’s teeing it up on the LET this week in an Aramco Team Series event in Hong Kong.