Jeeno Thitikul Dominates the CME Group Tour Championship with a Spectacular Round
In a game demonstration worthy of the world’s number one, Jeeno Thitikul leads the CME Group Tour Championship with an impressive round of 9 under par, signing a 63 that puts her three strokes ahead of her competitors. The Thai golfer is poised to obtain another $4 million prize and recognition as LPGA Player of the Year.
Nelly Korda, who Thitikul displaced from the top spot in the world ranking at the beginning of this year, achieved a 64 that put her at the top of the standings, although she is now five strokes away.
Thitikul displayed a dominant game, chaining four consecutive birdies and six in a stretch of eight holes. Her playing partner, Sei Young Kim, tried to keep up the pace, achieving six birdies in the second half of the course for a total of 66 strokes.
The current champion, Thitikul, accumulated a total of 14 under par, 130 strokes. “Better than yesterday, for sure,” declared Thitikul with a smile. “I can’t complain, no bogeys and nine birdies. I’ll take it.”
Somi Lee, who started the tournament with a 64, had a bogey on the first par 5 hole and couldn’t maintain the momentum. She finished with two birdies in her last five holes, securing a 70 that left her four strokes behind the leader, along with Nasa Hataoka (67).
Kim, impressed by Thitikul’s performance, commented: “In nine holes, Jeeno has a five-stroke lead. I try to make a lot of birdies, especially in the second half of the round. She is amazing, she turns every hole into a birdie opportunity. She is a great player. I make a birdie and she makes another.”
Thitikul leads the ranking for the LPGA Player of the Year award. The only player who could surpass her is Miyuu Yamashita, winner of the Women’s British Open, who signed a 69 and is nine strokes behind the leader.
Thitikul and Yamashita are the only players with multiple victories this year.
Korda, who has yet to achieve a victory this year, had a slow start to the tournament. However, in the second round, he improved his game and became an early contender.
Korda explained that her improvement in the game was due to a few minutes of practice on the putting green. Now, she is five strokes behind the leader, who is showing why she is considered the best female golfer.
Thitikul started her birdie run with two 10-foot putts on holes eight and nine. Then, she placed her approach shot inches from the cup on hole 10, and her approach to hole 11, the most difficult on the course, left her 5 feet from the hole.
He only missed the green on the 18th hole, but even so, he had a birdie putt from about 18 feet, which he failed to sink.
Seven players are five strokes behind Thitikul, including Brooke Henderson and Minjee Lee. The winner will take home $4 million, the highest prize in women’s golf.
Thitikul knows she needs to keep up the pace of birdies to secure the victory. “As I always say, the winners here usually have a score of more than 20 under par, which is very low,” commented Thitikul. “We need to make more and more birdies.”
