Jeeno Thitikul has once again played her way into the conversation at a major tournament, firing a flawless 7-under 64 to move inside the top 10 through 36 holes at The Amundi Evian Championship.
The Thailand native got off to a slow start in the year’s fourth major, posting a 1-over 72 that saw her make three birdies and four bogeys on Thursday at Evian Resort Golf Club, the third time in Thitikul’s last four events that she has opened with an over-par effort. But the 23-year-old recovered beautifully on Friday, outpacing much of the field with a 64, what’s the second-lowest round of the week thus far in France.
She began her day two with a birdie on the 10th hole, one that got her back to even par, and then waited until the par-5 15th hole to tally her second birdie of the day and move to 1-under. Jeeno picked up a third birdie on 18 to climb to 2-under and quickly got to 3-under for the tournament with a birdie on the par-4 first hole.
The Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 2 made five consecutive pars before curling in a lengthy eagle putt on the par-5 seventh hole to move to 6-under for the round. A closing birdie on the par-5 ninth hole lifted Thitikul to a red-hot 64, putting the nine-time LPGA Tour winner in the top five with two rounds to play in the penultimate major of the 2026 season.
“I definitely hit better than yesterday,” said Thitikul. “I hit more fairways, I hit more greens, and it’s make me had a lot of more opportunity to make some putts, more than yesterday. And then obviously playing par 5 better than yesterday.
“I think afternoon wave play harder than the morning wave a little bit because yesterday, I think I was hitting everything farther than what I thought. Like my 7-iron normally like 155-165 and then it can go almost like 170 something, which is kind of a big adjustment. And then I mean, I hit it better. That makes a difference.”
This is Thitikul’s seventh time teeing it up at Evian Resort Golf Club, and in her six previous starts, she has collected four top-10 results, the best and most recent of which came in 2025 when Jeeno finished solo second to Grace Kim in a playoff after the two posted matching 72-hole totals of 14-under at this notoriously quirky venue.
But even though the firm greens, sloped fairways and hilly terrain frustrate and tire out her competitors, Evian Resort Golf Club is a property that Thitikul actually really loves to play, particularly because of the creativity one can have hitting certain shots.
“I love the course, how it looks,” said Thitikul. “I know it’s so slopey, but it have room for you to hit it and then let it help you to get it to the hole or to the spot that you wanted.”
This is Jeeno’s 13th tournament of what’s been an incredibly successful 2026 season so far for the young superstar. She has added two trophies to her cabinet, winning the Honda LPGA Thailand in her home country in February and then successfully defending her title at the Mizuho Americas Open, which was held for the first time ever at Mountain Ridge Country Club in West Caldwell, N.J.
Thitikul has also added three other top-10 results to her resume, doing so at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions (T7), the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G (7) and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (T8).
But what has continued to remain just out of reach for Jeeno is a major championship victory, something that’s earned the 23-year-old the “one of the best player who has yet to win a major” moniker, a cringe-eliciting title Thitikul has to have grown weary of shouldering.
And now, she’ll again enter the weekend at The Amundi Evian Championship within striking distance of the lead, currently held by England’s Lottie Woad, and will need to keep her foot on the pedal and the pedal on the floor in France if she hopes to hoist a trophy for the first time at one of the biggest events in the women’s game.
