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\u2019s lead was back to five and the only thing that mattered was the winning score.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s 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\u2019s 23-year-old scoring record, one that has stood since before Thitikul was born.<\/p>\n
Stellar Sunday finish for the World No. 1 pic.twitter.com\/BNtE8VKWww<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 LPGA (@LPGA) November 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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\u2019s previous number was 68.697. From the entire season, if Thitikul had taken two more strokes, she wouldn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just such an honour,\u201d Thitikul said. \u201cI mean, like never ever dreaming to like having that record at all. I mean, that\u2019s really an amazing award that I am going to have.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s just the start of it.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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\u2019t far away.<\/p>\n Last year after winning this title, Thitikul went to Disney World and bought a new car. This year? \u201cDefinitely shopping,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s in my head, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n Photo: Michael Reaves<\/p>\n The season still, with all its merits, had a few bumps for Thitikul. She won the Mizuho America\u2019s 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\u2019d like to have back \u2013 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\u2019s playoff heroics<\/a>. Then there was the inexplicable four-putt on the final hole of the Kroger event to hand England\u2019s Charley Hull the championship.<\/p>\n Surely those don\u2019t sting as much now, while seeing $6.2 million more in the bank, but they matter, especially since the only thing missing on Thitikul\u2019s r\u00e9sum\u00e9 to this point is winning a major. Evian would\u2019ve ticked that box. Winning a major is now a major goal for 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been long,\u201d she said about the season that produced 14 top-10 finishes. \u201cI go through happy moments and I go through sad moments for sure during the season.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe not everyone can get what they want all the time. Yes, today I do get what I want but tomorrow, maybe I can\u2019t get what I want again.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Photo: Michael Reaves<\/p>\n \u201cJust been an awesome week. Just no complaints,\u201d Anannarukarn said. \u201cI\u2019m 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.\u201d<\/p>\n It can be argued that Korda\u2019s 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\u2019s Open (T-2). She didn\u2019t get off to the quickest of starts today and, even with an eagle hole-out from a fairway bunker<\/a> on the 11th hole, she couldn\u2019t get closer than the original six-shot deficit.<\/p>\n \u201cA grind,\u201d is how Korda summed up the year. \u201cI feel like there was a lot of ups and downs and it made me grow a lot mentally and I would say I\u2019m just also very grateful for it because, you know, success is never linear.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re always learning. You never have it figured out really. That\u2019s why it always humbles you.\u201d<\/p>\n Unless it was this week and your name is Jeeno Thitikul.<\/p>\n ![\"2248114188\"\/](\"https:\/\/golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com\/content\/dam\/images\/golfdigest\/fullset\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2248114188.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix\/1763933521765.jpeg\")
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