Why Jeeno Thitikul's 2025 Season is Perfectly Imperfect

For most people, four-putting on the final hole to lose a tournament by one stroke would be their villain origin story. It's mental hurdle, mixed with despair and a whole lot of self-deprecation that would get the best of many of us but I believe that it's the very thing that will make Jeeno Thitikul an even more formidable force.

That loss shifted something in her, and her comeback performance at last week's event in Shanghai was reflective of that. Despite still being so young into her career, every time the 22-year-old stumbles, she finds her footing and does so quickly.

But Cincinnati felt different from Evian, because it wasn't like she gave that title away, she made Grace Kim earn it and vice versa. The two were going tit for tat and it made for one of if not the best finish of a tournament all season long. Cincinnati was a true loss. Victory at her finger tips and it slipped away in moments.

Shanghai was Thitikul's first event after her 72nd-hole nightmare and she was an open book after her victory champagne shower at Qizhong Garden Golf Club.

"[I] definitely cried a lot. Not going lie, cried quite a lot. And then had a really amazing off week, which spent with no golf in Canada," Thitikul said. "[It] just remind me that whatever happened, it's the past. And that I'm a human, which is I make mistakes...everyone does."

Even the best women's golfer in the world needs to go out and touch grass sometimes, she took time off to explore the vastness of Banff to reset and most importantly learn to heal.

Thitikul continued to say, "I just kept telling myself—whatever happens in dramatic events, not just Cincinnati, but in this year, I just told myself that I need to earn it by myself. Every win or every work that you—the winner is just only one players and then I have to earn it by myself, and then when it's my time, I will want to be in that moment again and did it by myself again."

"I just kept telling myself—no matter what has happened in dramatic events, not just Cincinnati, but in this year, I need to earn it by myself. Every win or all that work leading up to it...I have to earn it," Thitikul continued. "I want to be in that moment again and do it by myself again."

She took to Instagram to celebrate her second title this season writing:

"Thanks to all the life lessons for letting me know how resilience and patience look like now".

Just four seasons into her LPGA career and Thitikul has already learned the most vital of lessons.

Her mindset is a refreshing one. Whether if she's sitting atop the leaderboard or not, it's water off her back and she keeps moving forward. In a season where the Tour has seen a record number of winners, Jeeno has been the one to shine—collecting 12 top-10s, including two wins—she's the only player able to say that this year.

The win in Shanghai was for her, she had nothing to prove to anyone but herself. She followed defeat with glowing triumph and that's going to propel her through the remainder of the season and well into 2026. Her foot is firmly on the pedal and I don't see her letting up anytime soon.

She leading the way in just about every end-of-season awards race the LPGA has to offer. She leads Minjee Lee in the Player of the Year race.

She's inching closer to winning the Vare Trophy which is awarded to the player with the lowest scoring average—she's the only player with an average under 69 at 68.95. And it's an award she's familiar with winning in 2023. She would've won it in 2024 as well, but she didn't meet the minimum number of required rounds. (A player must compete in a minimum of either 60 total rounds or 60 percent of the official tournament rounds.)

If she were to win both POTY and Vare, she'd also earn two points toward her Hall of Fame bid.

Related: What's Left in the 2025 LPGA Season

And this week she looks to lead her Thailand compatriots to defend their title at the International Crown, headlining a field comprised of 16 of the 27 LPGA winners this season.

Related: Meet The Teams Competing in The 2025 International Crown

"Golf, even number-wise really taught me to be humble because golf and then the [No. 1] ranking not will last forever." she said. "One day definitely [my ranking will] go down anyway for sure. It's not going to last like forever because I know so many talented players competing better than me out there."

In a season riddled with highs and lows, she stays exactly where she needs to be mentally—and she's the easiest person to root for.