Miami (AFP) – Top-ranked defending champion Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand seeks her third title of the season and the richest payday in women’s golf at this week’s season-ending LPGA Tour Championship. The $11 million showdown of 60 top players for a $4 million top prize at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida, features the 22-year-old Asian star, who has a triumph among six top-10 finishes in her past seven starts. Jeeno won the Mizuho Americas Open in May and last month’s LPGA Shanghai event, but has been a runner-up four times this season, including in a fight for her first major title at July’s Evian Championship in France.
“I’m super excited,” Jeeno said. “It has still been really like an amazing ride this year. Definitely ups and downs. Definitely had a lot of close ones but couldn’t finish it. Cried a lot for sure on second runner-up (Evian). But how often you fall, how fast you know how to stand up, so I think that’s a really good life learning experience for me.”
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Jeeno, never outside the top-10 at the Tour Championship, is also in the hunt for the season money crown, the Vare Trophy for low season scoring average, and the LPGA Player of the Year award. “I think if that trophy belongs to someone else, you need to give that to the person who deserves it,” Jeeno said. “So I have nothing to do more than just 100% out there.”
World number four Minjee Lee of Australia leads the season prize money list with $3,822,388 while Jeeno sits $244,058 behind. Lee, who switched to a broomstick putter at the start of the campaign, won her third career major title at the Women’s PGA Championship in June and her eight top-10 efforts this year included sharing third at Evian. “I didn’t really have big expectations, so I was just trying to work through my processes and just see where it took me,” Lee said. “I’ve had quite a lot of success with it this year and hopefully continue to do that.”
Jeeno leads in scoring average for the season on 68.88 strokes with world number two Nelly Korda of the United States second on 69.58. Korda has one final chance to take a victory this year after capturing seven titles in 2024. Jeeno leads in the Player of the Year chase by 16 points over Japan’s third-ranked Miyu Yamashita, who has already clinched the LPGA Rookie of the Year award. She will play in her first Tour Championship after taking the Women’s British Open and winning again last month in Malaysia.
The 10 top players will receive points with the winner taking 30. Yamashita could become only the second player to win LPGA Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year awards in the same season after American Nancy Lopez in 1978.
© 2024 AFP
