The history of LPGA parity came to an end on Sunday in Shanghai at the hands of Jeeno Thitikul, and that’s exactly what both the world No. 1 and the LPGA needed.
Entering the Buick LPGA Shanghai, the LPGA had 26 unique winners in 25 events. There were zero multiple winners this season. Nelly Korda, who won seven times last season, is winless so far despite being statistically at the same level. The fact that there are so many unique winners shows the depth of the LPGA. The tour is packed with talent and will only deepen as more young talents blossom. But a tour that wants to attract more attention may require a dominant player.
That could be Korda. She’s still the top star in women’s golf, and while the wins aren’t up yet this season, her play hasn’t diminished. But there is room for a new star, and Thitikul, who overtook Korda as world No. 1 in August, has the game and personality to become the leading force.
But winning is the most important ingredient.
Thitikul won at the Mizuho Americas Open earlier this season. Despite falling short of her first career title, she has been a consistent force in the majors this year. She was on the hunt at the Chevron before she faded away this weekend. She lost a match to Minjee Lee at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and fell in a play-off to Grace Kim at the Amundi Evian Championship. She entered this week with a second-place finish in her previous two starts, including at the Kroger Queen City Championship, where she made a fourth putt on the 72nd hole to present the trophy to Charey Hull.
There is a world where Thitikul has won multiple trophies this season, including a major. Instead, she arrived in Shanghai with just one win and still licking her wounds from the Kroger collapse.
That brings us to Sunday, where Japan’s Minami Katsu entered the final round at Qizhong Garden Golf Club with a two-shot lead over Thitikul and Lee. A Katsu victory would set the LPGA record for most unique winners in a season at 27. Katsu extended her lead to four after 13 holes and appeared to be on her way to her first career win.
But Thitikul had other plans.
The world number 1 birdied 14, 15 and 16 before adding an eagle on 17 to move level with Katsu. Katsu had a chance to win with a birdie on 18, but her putt slid past the hole and sent the tournament to a playoff. Thitikul and Katsu traded pars for the first four playoff holes before the world No. 1 increased her approach to one meter on the fifth playoff hole. Katsu’s approach fell just short of the green and her tournament-extending chip failed to drop, allowing Thitikul to claim the title.
Thitikul earns the LPGA Shanghai playoff title
After the victory, Thitikul acknowledged that her disastrous four-putt at the Kroger weighed on her. A redemptive win in Shanghai had a cleansing feeling for Thitikul.
“What happened at the last event [was] Definitely still on my mind, but I would like to prove myself again this tournament, which is… like a dream come true and you know, I don’t carry anything on my shoulder,” she said.
The Thai star has shown an impressive perspective early in her career. It’s a pressure-relieving perspective that’s the product of humble beginnings. Thitikul honed her skills on the driving range in Ratchaburi, Thailand, a small town not far from Bangkok that doesn’t have its own course. Thitikul has said that her professional goal is to earn enough money to give her family a good life, and she believes she has already achieved that goal. While her talent suggests she could write her name in the stars, her goals have always remained more earth-focused. At the FM Championship, Thitikul, who had recently overtaken Korda as world No. 1, said she didn’t think she was “that good.”
To her, the rest is the rest. She is already amazed at the success she has found. She wants more, but claims she will be happy with whatever comes.
That’s both the naivety of youth and the humility that comes from learning the game on a driving range. Thitikul’s love for the game is evident in every step she takes on the course and in every post-round interview she gives. She has immense gratitude for how far she has made it and a tireless work ethic to keep climbing. But she also seems free from the weight of expectations.
“Every major I just want to get to, to be honest,” Thitikul said ahead of the KPMG Women’s PGA when asked if she felt pressure to win her first major. “It would be really great to win it, and I can definitely say it would be like everyone dreams of winning a major. For me, what I have under my belt now, I’m pretty happy with everything I’ve achieved. If I can get it, it would be great, but if not, I have nothing to regret.”
But on Sunday in Shanghai, the world number 1 showed a different side. After her comeback win over Katsu, Thitikul admitted the pain of the Kroger loss. That the hair stuck and floated, that is the case with all elite competitors.
“[I] definitely cried a lot. I’m not going to lie, I cried quite a lot,” Thitikul said. “And then I have a really great week off, spending time without golf in Canada, and then reminding myself that whatever happened is in the past. And then I’m human, and I definitely make mistakes, and so does everyone.
“I just stayed [telling] myself whatever [happens] in dramatic events, not just in Cincinnati, but this year I told myself I had to earn it myself. The winner is only one player and then I have to earn it myself, and when it’s my time, I want to be back in that moment and do it alone again.
They were the tears of a world-renowned talent with a competitive fire to be great. A sign that a grounded perspective doesn’t mean she’s complacent. Jeeno Thitikul knows she can be great and has plans to make that vision a reality. Whether or not it carries a burden is up to her.
But first she had to wash away the pain of her previous breakdown.
With a history-making comeback, Jeeno Thitikul found redemption and showed there’s more on the horizon.
“I have nothing to be afraid of anymore,” Thitikul said in Shanghai on Sunday.
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