CHANDLER, Ariz. (AP) — Lilia Vu finally made a bogey and then lost her lead Saturday. She responded with three straight birdies for a 4-under 68, giving her a two-shot lead over Charley Hull of England going into the final round of the Ford Championship.
Vu began the tournament by going 41 holes without a bogey, a streak that ended on the sixth hole of Whirlwind Golf Club.
Far more damaging was the double bogey she took on the 14th hole, which dropped her into a tie for the lead when Hull made a left-to-right putt from 15 feet for birdie on the 16th.
That only sharpened Vu's focus, particularly on the greens. She answered with a 40-foot birdie putt up a ridge on the 15th. She judged a wedge perfectly with the wind at her back and it rolled out to 2 feet on the 16th.
She made it three in a row with a beautiful lag putt from 40 feet just off the green at the par-5 17th to tap in for birdie. Vu finished at 18-under 198.
Hull, who opened the tournament with a 63, holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th for a 68 to get within two shots and land a spot in the final group with Vu on Sunday.
But this is far from a two-player race.
Seven other players were within four shots of the lead, all of them handling the strong wind and firm greens that require players to hit their spots on bouncy greens for birdie chances.
Missing from those in the mix was Nelly Korda, the defending champion. The No. 1 player in the women's world ranking, Korda was within one shot of the lead until she went nowhere on the back nine, failing to birdie the par 5s and making two bogeys.
Korda shot 73, and along with being seven shots behind, she had 18 players in front of her.
Vu felt as though she sorted out her swing, hitting the ball the best she has all week. It was a matter of judging the distance and the bounce and the wind, and that was difficult.
“I was telling my caddie, ‘I just can’t get the numbers right today.' And he just said to me, ‘I’m just going to get you on the green and then you can just try and make the putt from there.' And that's what we were doing,” Vu said.
Ayaka Furue of Japan (67) and Nanna Koertz Madsen of Denmark (69) were three shots behind, followed by followed by a group at 14-under 202 that include Jeeno Thitikul (70), the No. 2 player in the world, Yahui Zhang of China and former U.S. Women's Open champion Allisen Corpuz (67).
Zhang had the low round of a windy day at 65, which included a bogey on her final hole.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Lilia Vu chips onto the seventh green during the second round of the Ford Championship LPGA golf event, Friday, March 28, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The battle over transgender athletes' participation in youth sports came to California on Tuesday as state lawmakers rejected two bills aimed at keeping trans kids and teens off sports teams consistent with their gender identity.
Lawmakers voted to block a bill that would have required the California Interscholastic Federation, the governing body for high school sports, to adopt rules banning students whose sex was assigned male at birth from participating on a girls school sports team.
Assemblymember Kate Sanchez, a Republican who authored the bill, said the proposal was about fairness.
“AB 89 is about protecting women,” she said. “Full stop and that’s it.”
Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, a Democrat on the committee, said she would support a study on transgender athletes’ participation in sports but that the proposed bans were an attack on transgender youth.
“This is wrong, and this is cruel,” she said.
Lawmakers also rejected a proposed ban that would have reversed a 2013 law allowing students to participate on a sex-segregated sports team that aligns with their gender identity, regardless of the gender listed on their records. It would have applied to K-12 and college students.
The Republican-backed bills drew a large crowd to the state Assembly’s Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Tourism hearing, filling up the committee room, with more people lined up outside to testify on the bills. Conservative political commentator Matt Walsh and a student-athlete who says a trans runner took her spot on her high school's varsity cross country team testified in support of a ban. LGBTQ+ advocates and parents of transgender children voiced their opposition to the proposals.
Proponents of the bills referred multiple times to recent comments Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom made on his podcast, when he questioned the fairness of transgender athletes participating in girls sports, angering party allies. Newsom hasn’t directly called for a reversal of state law and generally does not comment on pending legislation.
The hearing comes a day after Transgender Day of Visibility.
Democratic Assemblymember Chris Ward, the committee chair who leads the legislative LGBTQ+ caucus, said before the hearing he hoped it would “provide a balanced setting where both sides can present their arguments and engage in rational deliberation.”
At least 24 states have laws on the books barring transgender women and girls from participating in certain women’s or girls sports competitions. Judges have temporarily blocked bans in Arizona, Idaho and Utah. In New Hampshire and West Virginia, students who sued those states over bans were allowed to compete.
At the federal level, President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month aimed at barring transgender athletes from participating in girls and women's sports.
The bans are part of a nationwide battle over transgender rights, with some states also imposing bans on gender-affirming care and requiring schools to share students’ gender identity with parents without the students’ consent.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon weighed in on California's proposed ban. She sent Newsom a letter last week, saying his remarks on his podcast caught her attention and requesting he clarify his stance and support the bill that would reverse the 2013 law.
“Take a stand on your convictions,” she wrote. "Be clear about the harms of gender confusion. Protect female spaces. Do not encourage children to seek permanent medical interventions to their sex. Inform parents."
The U.S. Department of Education also announced an investigation last week into the state education department over a law banning school districts from requiring teachers and staff to notify parents if a student changes their gender identity at school.
Austin is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X: @sophieadanna
FILE - Republican Assembly members Tom Lackey, of Palmdale, left, and Bill Essayli, of Riverside, huddle at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., July 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
