For the second consecutive season, Jeeno Thitikul has captured the CME Group Tour Championship title and taken home the $4 million first-place prize at Tiburón Golf Club.
The Thailand native and current Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 put on a masterclass throughout the week in Naples, Fla., only making three bogeys across four days and carding all four rounds in the 60s, two of which were a 63 and a 64 that came on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Thitikul is the second athlete to win back-to-back CME Group Tour Championship titles alongside Republic of Korea native Jin Young Ko, but she is the first player to take home the $4 million winner’s check in back-to-back years, as the purse wasn’t raised to $11 million until the 2024 playing of this event. She additionally broke the single-season scoring record on the LPGA Tour, which has stood since 2002 and was first set by Annika Sorenstam (68.697).
Thitikul began the day with a six-stroke lead over Rolex Rankings No. 2 Nelly Korda and fellow Thai LPGA Tour winner Pajaree Anannarukarn, and even though the latter threw a 66 at her coming down the stretch, the 22-year-old remained unfazed, firing a 4-under 68 to win by four shots with a four-day total of 26-under.
In addition to her seventh career title and the Race to the CME Globe, Thitikul also secured Rolex Player of the Year honors, the Vare Trophy and the Money Title on Sunday at the CME Group Tour Championship. It’s the first time that the Thailand native has been the Player of the Year, but it’s the second time that she has earned both the Vare Trophy (2023) and the Money Title (2024) at the conclusion of an LPGA Tour season.
“I think earlier in the week I was just saying be able to finish four rounds of golf here more than I could ask for already, but standing here with the trophy on Sunday, hold the trophy, it’s more than I really, really could ask for, for sure. All that work that I put in with my team paid off here today again,” said Thitikul. “I think it’s an honour. Definitely all that Vare Trophy, Player of the Year is always going to be representing how consistent you are in the whole long season, but to hold that trophy I feel goosebumps because I think it’s had all the history about golf from all the players.”
And while all the accolades and the spoils are definitely something to be proud of, Thitikul’s feelings about her success have ultimately remained the same, with the world No. 1 saying in her winning press conference that she still just feels like the same old Jeeno.
“My life will still be the same, I guess. I need to hit the ball the same. I need to putt and chip still,” Thitikul said. “All the wins that I have going, anyone can’t take it from me, and then I don’t think it’s going to be a special person, special like people in the whole wide world. I think I been the same human being as you guys. I had to work. I have things to do. I had some happy moment. I had some sad moments. Just you sum up of describing a life.”
Anannarukarn, who entered the week at 60th in the Race to the CME Globe, finished runner-up to Thitikul with a four-day total of 22-under par after finishing with a 6-under 66. Her 72-hole score of 266 is her new career-low on the LPGA Tour, besting her previous benchmark of 273 by seven shots.
It’s just the second time in LPGA Tour history that two athletes from Thailand have finished first and second on the leaderboard in a stroke-play event, with the first time being at the 2021 Honda LPGA Thailand when Thitikul was runner-up to former Rolex Rankings No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn. It also has happened once in the Dow Championship, with the Jutanugarn sisters finishing three strokes ahead of Thailand native Jasmine Suwannapura and American Cydney Clanton at Midland Country Club in 2021.
And while she would have loved to pocket the $4 million winner’s check on Sunday at the season finale, Anannarukarn couldn’t have been prouder of Thitikul, who she considers one of her closest friends on the LPGA Tour.
“It’s amazing for what (Jeeno) has done and what she’s doing,” said Anannarukarn. “I think it’s good for the game and golf in Thailand, as well. She’s been a big role model to a lot of new generations and to us, and she inspired so much, even us, too.”
Korda came in third after finishing at 20-under par. Her final-round 68 was highlighted by an eagle hole out on the par-4 11th hole from the fairway bunker. Gaby Lopez, who carded a Saturday 62, came in fourth, while Japan’s Nasa Hataoka finished fifth at 17-under total.
Epson Tour graduate Auston Kim recorded the best finish by a first-timer in the CME Group Tour Championship field, tying for seventh in her tournament debut at Tiburón Golf Club.
