We revisit Jeeno Thitikul’s record year under the radar

The past twelve months have had a little bit of everything: a Grand Slam career, Ryder Cup chaos and much more. With 2026 on the horizon, our writers look back at the most memorable moments from 2025 and explain why they mattered.

No. 15 – The zero torque putter motion
No. 14 — ‘Happy Gilmore 2’ is taking the golf world by storm
No. 13 — Joaquin Niemann’s big 2025 (and crucial 2026)
No. 12 — JJ Spaun’s memorable major title
No. 11 – The internet invitation

Stories of 2025 No. 10: Jeeno Thitikul’s record year

How deep is the talent on the LPGA Tour? When Sei Young Kim sealed her wire-to-wire, four-shot victory at the BMW Ladies Championship in Korea in October for the 13th LPGA victory of her career, she not only snapped a nearly five-year victory drought, but also helped dismantle an even longer record: Kim’s victory made her the 27th different winner on the LPGA Tour in 2025 in 28 tournaments, setting a new single-season benchmark for the LPGA Tour.

The spell was temporarily broken two weeks later when reigning AIG Women’s Open champion Miyu Yamashita claimed her second victory of the season at the Maybank Championship in Malaysia. But then two more different winners claimed titles in consecutive weeks: Nasa Hataoka at the TOTO Japan Classic and Linn Grant at The ANNIKA.

The previous LPGA record for multiple winners set the bar at 26 in 1995. That number remained the same in 2018 and 2022, eventually being broken by Grant’s victory in November, bringing the year’s total to 29 different winners with just one tournament remaining.

Heading into the LPGA season finale, the CME Group Tour Championship, only two players had distinguished themselves with more than one win: Yamashita and world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul, who won both the Mizuho Americas Open in May and the Buick LPGA Shanghai in October.

The parity on display in 2025 is impressive, especially considering Nelly Korda only recorded a win last year. seven-win season – and she was one of them five players who won multiple times in 2024, with Hannah Green and Lydia Ko also recording three wins each. Korda, who finished world number two behind Thitikul in August, did not record a victory in 2025 but came incredibly close several times, with seven top-5 finishes, including two second places.

At the CME, however, Thitikul asserted herself as the LPGA tour’s newest queen, en route to a four-stroke victory to win the $4 million prize for the second year in a row.

In a record-setting season, Thitikul’s three wins weren’t the only thing that set her apart from her peers. She was named Rolex Player of the Year and won the Vare Trophy for the second time. Thitikul’s consistency also earned her some impressive entries in the history books, including a new record with an average of 68.68 (beating Annika’s Sorenstam’s 2002 record by 0.02) and a new single-season winnings record, with $7,578,330. Thitikul finished the season with 14 top-10 finishes in 20 starts.

One of Thitikul’s superpowers seems to be her understanding that winning streaks can be fleeting. At the Kroger Queen City Championship in September, she hit a fourth hole on the 18th hole and finished second behind Charley Hull. She revisited the aftermath of that devastating loss – and the perspective it gave her – in the wake of her CME win.

“I remember the day I came to Dallas after Kroger,” she said. “I put the ice pack in my eyes because I was crying so much. That’s what I remember. And then I willingly took a picture holding it like that. It’s weird. But I want to remind myself that the day you get there or the day you like, you know, the happiness in your life, this day will definitely come. Just like the days of sadness will come.”

“So, you know, kind of like what you’ve had in your career doesn’t define who you are and it doesn’t define who I am as Jeeno.”

Thitikul is only 22 years old and is wise beyond her years. What will 2026 bring? We can’t wait to tune in and find out.