[Photo: Julio Aguilar]
When a big championship enters its final round and the world No.1 on the respective tour holds a six-shot lead, well, it’s hard to envision there being much drama.
The final result at the CME Group Tour Championship showed that the game’s best player, Jeeno Thitikul, ran away with the title and captured the whopping $6.2 million ($US4 million) cheque for the second consecutive year. The 22-year-old from Thailand shot 68 at Tiburon Golf Club to end at 26-under 262, four shots ahead of her close friend, Pajaree Anannarukarn.
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Sure, there was a little drama early. Thitikul and world No.2 Nelly Korda were in the final pairing, but it was Anannarukarn who birdied five of the first seven holes and quickly closed the gap from six to two shots, which is the same number the lead was at the turn. Once Anannarukarn bogeyed the 12th hole, Thitikul’s lead was back to five and the only thing that mattered was the winning score.
That’s where the drama entered the equation. The final number, for Thitikul at least, mattered. It really mattered. With Thitikul calmly in command down the last few holes she needed to reach the 25-under-par total mark to top Annika Sorenstam’s 23-year-old scoring record, one that has stood since before Thitikul was born.
Stellar Sunday finish for the World No. 1 pic.twitter.com/BNtE8VKWww
— LPGA (@LPGA) November 23, 2025
When Thitikul birdied the 13th hole she was firmly on 25-under and only needed to play the final five holes in even-par to top Sorenstam’s number from her 11-win season in 2002. She went one better, making birdie from 10 feet on the 72nd hole to shoot 68 and end at 68.681 for the year, which gave her the Vare Trophy. Sorenstam’s previous number was 68.697. From the entire season, if Thitikul had taken two more strokes, she wouldn’t have topped Sorenstam. The two of them and Lydia Ko (68.988 in 2022) are the only three to break 69 for the full season.
“It’s just such an honour,” Thitikul said. “I mean, like never ever dreaming to like having that record at all. I mean, that’s really an amazing award that I am going to have.”
That’s just the start of it.
Thitikul walked away with all the goods in south-western Florida, even with an achy wrist that started to bother her last week; the huge cheque, the tournament title, the scoring record and LPGA Player of the Year honours. She’s also, get this, the fastest player in tour history to earn $US8 million, $9 million, $10 million, $11 million, $12 million and $13 million in her career. Fourteen million ain’t far away.
Last year after winning this title, Thitikul went to Disney World and bought a new car. This year? “Definitely shopping,” she said. “It’s in my head, for sure.”
Photo: Michael Reaves
The season still, with all its merits, had a few bumps for Thitikul. She won the Mizuho America’s Open in May and captured her second title last month in a playoff at the Buick LPGA Shanghai. The CME Group win this week is her seventh on the LPGA. There were two tournaments in particular that she’d like to have back – the Amundi Evian Championship at the Kroger Queen City Championship. In France at the Evian, she failed to birdie the easy par-5 18th hole on Sunday to win outright, then lost in a playoff to Grace Kim’s playoff heroics. Then there was the inexplicable four-putt on the final hole of the Kroger event to hand England’s Charley Hull the championship.
Surely those don’t sting as much now, while seeing $6.2 million more in the bank, but they matter, especially since the only thing missing on Thitikul’s résumé to this point is winning a major. Evian would’ve ticked that box. Winning a major is now a major goal for 2026.
“It’s been long,” she said about the season that produced 14 top-10 finishes. “I go through happy moments and I go through sad moments for sure during the season.
“I believe not everyone can get what they want all the time. Yes, today I do get what I want but tomorrow, maybe I can’t get what I want again.”
Anannarukarn and Korda did not get what they wanted at Tiburon, either. To be fair, though, a win was a tough ask for either. The 26-year-old Anannarukarn from Thailand was the last person into this prestigious field, finishing 60th on the number from last week. To do that and shoot 22-under-par for the week and earn $US1 million is the ultimate consolation prize. She played in the group ahead of Thitikul and waited on the 18th green to douse her friend in champagne.
Photo: Michael Reaves
“Just been an awesome week. Just no complaints,” Anannarukarn said. “I’m just really happy with how I was able to perform well and to celebrate my friend for back-to-back wins, so that was pretty cool.”
It can be argued that Korda’s inability to win this year after winning seven times last year is the top LPGA story of the year. She was dominant just a year ago and was in contention seemingly every week. This year she collected nine top-10 finishes in 19 starts but lost her world No.1 ranking. Her best finishes came at the season-opening Tournament of Championship event at Lake Nona (second) and the US Women’s Open (T-2). She didn’t get off to the quickest of starts today and, even with an eagle hole-out from a fairway bunker on the 11th hole, she couldn’t get closer than the original six-shot deficit.
“A grind,” is how Korda summed up the year. “I feel like there was a lot of ups and downs and it made me grow a lot mentally and I would say I’m just also very grateful for it because, you know, success is never linear.
“You’re always learning. You never have it figured out really. That’s why it always humbles you.”
Unless it was this week and your name is Jeeno Thitikul.