NAPLES, Fla. — Jeeno Thitikul has been the top-ranked women’s golfer in the world since August and is perhaps the best at consistently putting herself into contention to win on the LPGA Tour. And still, golf is a sport that can humble even the best players in the world. That’s how the 22-year-old from Thailand likes it.
“This year has taught me to be more humble, to be honest. You’re there and definitely one day you’re not going to be,” Thitikul said on Tuesday. “It doesn’t last forever, my career.”
With two wins already this season, Thitikul has a chance to collect more hardware at the CME Group Tour Championship that begins on Thursday in Southwest Florida, where she finished eagle-birdie last year to win the $4 million first prize.
This season’s rookie of the year, Miya Yamashita of Japan, is the only other player with two victories in a season in which 29 golfers have lifted a trophy. And as long as Yamashita doesn’t triumph on the Tiburon Gold Course, Thitikul will top the points list as player of the year. She also is one of four players, along with Yamashita, Nelly Korda and Minjee Lee, who are eligible to win the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average of the season. Thitikul tops that list at 68.88.
Thitikul took over the No. 1 spot in the world rankings from Korda, winless this season, in August. She’d been there once before for a short-lived stint but is now securely at the top and increasing her lead. She has six career LPGA wins and 64 top-10 finishes in her career.
Jeeno Thitikul reacts during the KPMG Women’s PGA in June.
Alex Slitz
As strong as Thitikul’s season has been, it coujld have been even greater, with several could’ve-should’ve-would’ve tournaments that included four second-place results. Those include a heartbreaking playoff loss to Grace Kim in the Amundi Evian Championship, when Thitikul was on the verge of capturing the first major of her career before Kim went eagle-birdie-eagle on her last three holes.
The Kroger Queen City Championship was an example of another close call that brought Thitikul to tears. The tour’s fourth-ranked player on the greens four-putted the 72nd hole to lose a tournament that seemed in the bag—leaving playing partner and winner Charley Hull shaky and in shock.
How did Thitikul handle such a huge disappointment? The very next time she teed it up she shot 24 under and won the Buick LPGA Shanghai.
You can describe the runner-up finishes by saying Thitikul is putting herself into contention, or you can say she wasn’t able to close it out. Both are true, but it depends on how you want to spin it. She’s played so well she’s now the best in the world, but she tries not to view things through keeping that No. 1 ranking, but rather putting herself in the mix to win.
“Golf for me [isn’t about] keeping the position of the ranking but to keep improving on the game that I have,” Thitikul said. “I might have had this performance-wise, but next year it can be someone who has a really outstanding [season], more than me, for sure.”
It’s easy to forget Thitikul is so young because she’s seemingly been on tour for so long. She joined the LPGA in 2022 and is putting an exclamation mark on her fourth season.
Asked to describe the year and the highs and lows, Thitikul said: “Four or five times [been asked that] question this week. I think it’s still been really an amazing ride this year. Definitely ups and downs. Definitely had a lot of close ones but couldn’t finish it. Cried a lot for sure on runners-up. But I think it’s not how often you fall [it’s] how fast you know how to stand up, so I think that’s a really good like life learning experience for me.”
Last year, Thitikul bought a Mercedes before she came to CME, then earned the big payday to cover the cost. With more than $13 million in career earnings, she takes care of her family in Thailand, too, so she’ll have more time in the offseason for Thai food and having fun in her homeland. They are her “why.”
“The reason that I play golf is because of my family. My family is my first priority,” Thitikul said. “That’s why it’s kind of reminding me every day that I’ve been here that whatever ranking I am, whatever position that I finish in each tournament, I will be able to take care of them.”
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
