{"id":312708,"date":"2025-11-25T12:13:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T12:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/312708\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T12:13:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T12:13:08","slug":"jeeno-thitikul-at-the-forefront-of-lpga-after-winning-another-season-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/312708\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeeno Thitikul at the Forefront of LPGA After Winning Another Season Title"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe greats don\u2019t come along too often.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was Nelly Korda describing Jeeno Thitikul after the 22-year-old Thai secured her second consecutive season-long LPGA title, the Race to the CME Globe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thitikul, the world No. 1, claimed the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon in Naples, Fla., for her third victory of the season. She finished four strokes ahead of fellow Thai Pajaree Anannarukarn and six strokes over world No. 2 Korda, who played with Thitikul in the final round.<\/p>\n

Sign Up Now. SI Golf Newsletters. Sports Illustrated\u2019s Free Golf Newsletters. dark<\/p>\n

In 2025, Thitikul was one of two multiple-time champions on the LPGA. It was also the year she planted her stake in the ground as the face of women\u2019s golf.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely all that [2025] Vare Trophy [lowest season-long scoring average], like Player of the Year is always going to be representing how consistency you are in the whole long season,\u201d Thitikul said. \u201cBut hold that trophy just feel, you know, kind of goosebump because like I think it\u2019s had all the history about golf from all the players.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE: Final results, payouts from CME Group Tour Championship<\/a><\/p>\n

And she made history in collecting those accolades. Thitikul\u2019s scoring average of 68.681 bests Annika Sorenstam\u2019s 68.697 in 2002 and set the LPGA\u2019s new single-season mark.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, it\u2019s kind of crazy, right?\u201d Korda said of Thitikul. \u201cTo finally beat a record so far in\u2014what was it, 2002 you said? For it to take until 2025, I mean, it\u2019s crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

A year ago, Korda was the one altering the record books. She joined Nancy Lopez (1978) and Sorenstam (2004-05) as the only players to win five consecutive LPGA events and Korda\u2019s seven total victories were the most by an American in a single season since Beth Daniel in 1990.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Oozing with star power, she was the predominant player in women\u2019s golf. But in 2025, Korda was winless<\/a>. Though the 27-year-old played well, with nine top 10s in 19 starts, Thitikul surpassed Korda as world No. 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like there was a lot of ups and downs and it made me grow a lot mentally,\u201d Korda said of her season, \u201cand I would say I\u2019m just also very grateful for it because success is never linear.\u201d<\/p>\n

The moment Jeeno Thitikul defended the season title \ud83e\udd29 pic.twitter.com\/Xj96nm85ku<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 LPGA (@LPGA) November 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

This year was a bit of a transitional period for the LPGA, which was celebrating its 75th anniversary. The tour began the season with an interim commissioner before Craig Kessler assumed the role this summer<\/a>. In his first four months, he\u2019s gotten to work on bettering the LPGA product<\/a>, including bringing in new marketing sponsors and splitting with its chief marketing, communications and brand officer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, the LPGA isn\u2019t devoid of talent. The tour had a record 26 different champions in 26 events before Thitikul ended that streak at the Buick LPGA Shanghai in October<\/a>, coming back from four strokes with five to play, forcing a playoff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And Thitikul showed resilience in her breakout year. At September\u2019s Kroger Queen City Championship, Thitikul, with a one-stroke lead on the 72nd hole, four-putted from 50 feet to fumble the victory<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That tournament, though, was perhaps the most consequential of her season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember the day that I came to Dallas after the Kroger,\u201d she said when asked what she\u2019ll remember from this year, \u201cI have the ice pack put in my eyes because I cried so bad. That\u2019s I remember. \u2026 But I just want to remind myself \u2026 the happiness in your life, this day will come definitely.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLike the sadness days will come. So just, kind of like whatever you had in your career doesn\u2019t define who you are and doesn’t define like who I am as Jeeno, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just a few events later, Thitikul bounced back. Then, a week before the Group CME Tour Championship, she hurt her wrist on the practice range. That prevented her from hitting balls for a few days, but entering Round 1, the pain mostly subsided, paving the way for her dominant win, her seventh on the LPGA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Next to Korda, the LPGA has a star in Thitikul who\u2019s performing at a historic rate on the course and is seemingly always willing to be open off it, even if English isn\u2019t her first language.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s one gaping hole in her resume, though: a major championship title. She has nine major top 10s since 2022, her rookie season, and was close at the Evian Championship this year, but fell in a playoff to Grace Kim.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Afterward, she wasn\u2019t feeling the pressure to get over the major hump.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, like so proud of I can do it,\u201d she said. \u201cI can overcome it. And then hopefully a lot better chance in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sorenstam, arguably the greatest player in women\u2019s golf history, was 24 when she won her maiden major at the 1995 U.S. Women\u2019s Open. Heck, she didn\u2019t even have an LPGA title entering that year. Yet she finished her career with 72 of them, including 10 majors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thirty years later, Thitikul is already surpassing Sorenstam, one of the \u201cgreats,\u201d in certain categories. And still only 22, the sky is the limit for her. <\/p>\n

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