{"id":784181,"date":"2026-07-07T05:58:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T05:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/784181\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T05:58:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T05:58:16","slug":"jeeno-thitikul-draws-inspiration-from-older-sister-lydia-ko-ahead-of-evian-australian-golf-digest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/784181\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeeno Thitikul draws inspiration from ‘older sister’ Lydia Ko ahead of Evian \u2013 Australian Golf Digest"},"content":{"rendered":"

July 7th, 2026 <\/p>\n

\n By Australian Golf Digest <\/p>\n

[Photo: JD Cuban\/Rolex] <\/p>\n

Jeeno Thitikul is chasing her first major title at this week\u2019s Amundi Evian Championship and she\u2019s leaning on the guidance of a familiar face in fellow Rolex Testimonee Lydia Ko.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old Thai star, who finished runner-up at Evian last year, has spoken openly about the close bond she shares with Ko, describing the Kiwi as an older sister and role model. Ko made history at Evian in 2015, becoming the youngest major champion in the sport at just 18 years old, a milestone that\u2019s shaped how Thitikul views her friend\u2019s career.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

[Photo: JD Cuban\/Rolex] Lydia Ko, a Rolex Testimonee, at the 2024 Amundi Evian Championship.<\/p>\n

Thitikul says it\u2019s not just Ko\u2019s game she admires. \u201cEverything she has done for the tour, it matters more than what she just achieved on the course,\u201d Thitikul said of her friend and mentor.<\/p>\n

RELATED: 2026 Evian Championship: 9 players to watch<\/a><\/p>\n

Evian Resort Golf Club also holds a special place for Thitikul herself, who has called it her favourite course on tour, pointing to the hilly terrain and demanding elevation changes that make it as much a mental challenge as a physical one.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

[Photo:J.D. Cuban\/Rolex] A view of the 18th hole at the Evian Resort Golf Club Champions Course. <\/p>\n

Now in its 32nd edition, the tournament has grown into one of women\u2019s golf biggest stages since being elevated to major status in 2013, with the course\u2019s testing run through the foothills of the French Alps drawing praise from players for combining scenery with a genuine test of shot-making.<\/p>\n

Rolex has backed the event as Official Timepiece since 2000, part of a broader partnership with the women\u2019s game that also includes fellow Testimonees Nordqvist and Henderson, past champions from 2017 and 2022 respectively. The pair headline a field that also includes Ruoning Yin as Thitikul looks to go one better than last year\u2019s runner-up finish.<\/p>\n

The 32nd edition of the tournament runs from July 9-12.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"July 7th, 2026 By Australian Golf Digest [Photo: JD Cuban\/Rolex] Jeeno Thitikul is chasing her first major title…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":784182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[204889,29755,64,63,66981,755,121700,58251,30658,38079,146408,85],"class_list":["post-784181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-amundi-evian-championship","tag-anna-nordqvist","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-brooke-henderson","tag-golf","tag-jeeno-thitikul","tag-lpga","tag-lydia-ko","tag-rolex","tag-ruoning-yin","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}