Jeeno Thitikul Dominates the CME Group Tour Championship
Thai golfer Jeeno Thitikul delivered a masterful performance on Friday, signing a card of 63 strokes, nine under par, at the CME Group Tour Championship. With this impressive performance, the world number one in women’s golf is positioned with a three-stroke lead, heading towards another $4 million prize and the LPGA Player of the Year title. Nelly Korda, who was displaced by Thitikul at the top of the world ranking at the beginning of this year, achieved a 64 that placed her at the top of the leaderboard. However, she finished five strokes away, although still in the fight for her first victory of the year. Thitikul, defending champion, demonstrated her skill with a streak of four consecutive birdies around the 9th hole and six birdies in eight holes. She played alongside Sei Young Kim, who tried to keep pace and managed six birdies in the second half of the Tiburon Golf Club course, finishing with a 66. Thitikul, with a total of 14 under par (130 strokes), expressed her satisfaction: “Better than yesterday, without a doubt. I have no complaints, no bogeys and nine birdies. I’ll take it.” Somi Lee, who started the tournament with a 64, had a bogey on the first hole and couldn’t keep up the pace. With two birdies in the last five holes, she achieved a 70, finishing four strokes behind Thitikul, as did Nasa Hataoka (67).Both players achieved a birdie on all holes, except for two, in the last 11 they played together. Thitikul leads the ranking for the LPGA Player of the Year award. The only player who could surpass her is Miyuu Yamashita of Japan, champion of the Women’s British Open, who shot 69 strokes and is nine strokes behind. Korda, despite her impressive 2024 season, still hasn’t achieved a victory this year. However, she managed to improve her game with several birdie putts between 10 and 15 feet in the second round. Thitikul’s birdie streak began with two 10-foot putts on holes 8 and 9. Then, she got the ball close to the hole on the 10th and on the 11th, the most difficult hole at Tiburon, leaving her shot 5 feet away. Seven players are five strokes behind Thitikul with 36 holes to play, including Brooke Henderson and Minjee Lee. The winner will take home $4 million, the highest prize in women’s golf. Thitikul, aware of the need to keep adding birdies, stated: “As I always say, the winners here usually have a score of more than 20 under par, which is a very low score. We need to do more and more.”“Jeeno is amazing. She turns every hole into a birdie opportunity. She’s a great player. I make birdie and she makes birdie,” Kim commented.
Sei Young Kim
