Review of Jeeno Thitikul’s record-setting under-the-radar year

The last 12 months had a bit of everything – a career Grand Slam, Ryder Cup chaos and much more. With 2026 on the horizon, our writers look at the most memorable moments from 2025 and explain why they mattered.

no. 15 – Impeller motion with zero torque
no. 14 – ‘Happy Gilmore 2’ takes the golf world by storm
no. 13 – Joaquin Niemann’s big 2025 (and crucial 2026)
no. 12 – JJ Spaun’s unforgettable headliner
no. 11 – Online 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-stroke victory at October’s BMW Ladies Championship in Korea for the 13th LPGA victory of her career, she not only snapped a nearly five-year winning drought, she also helped dismantle an even longer record: Kim’s victory made her the 27th different LP220 Tour winner in the LP2 To5. a new single-season mark for the LPGA Tour.

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

The previous LPGA record for different winners was 26 in 1995. That number was tied in 2018 and 2022, and was finally broken by Grant’s victory in November, which brought the year’s total to 29 different winners with just one tournament remaining.

Going into the LPGA season finale, the CME Group Tour Championship, only two players had more than one win: Yamashita and The world’s number 1 and half of the woman as a woman’s word:who won May’s Mizuho Americas Open as well as October’s Buick LPGA Shanghai.

The parity that appeared in 2025 is impressive, especially when you consider that it was only last year that Nelly Korda scored a seven-win season – and she was one of five players to win multiple times in 2024, with Hannah Green and Lydia Ko also claiming three wins each. Korda, who fell to world No. 2 behind Thitikuli in August, did not score a victory in 2025 but came agonizingly close several times, with seven top-5 finishes, including two runner-up finishes.

However, at the CME, Thitikul declared herself the ultimate queen of the LPGA Tour, cruising to a four-shot 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 stamina earned her some impressive entries in the history books, including a new record average of 68.68 (beating Annika Sorenstam’s 2002 record by 0.02) and a new single-season earnings record of $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 stretches can be fleeting. At September’s Kroger Queen City Championships, she four-putt 18th hole to finish second behind Charley Hull. She revisited the aftermath of that devastating loss — and the perspective it gave her — in the wake of her CME triumph.

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

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

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