As the sun dipped low over the Tiburon Golf Club on Nov 23, casting long shadows across the manicured fairways, Jeeno Thitikul shone as she etched her name into golfing immortality.
The 22-year-old Thai sensation won back-to-back LPGA Tour Championship titles with a 26-under 262 total to seal a four-shot victory, claiming the US$4 million (S$5.2 million) winner’s cheque and capping off another dominant season.
It was a fitting crescendo to 2025, during which Jeeno racked up over US$7.6 million in earnings and three wins.
She was also named Player of the Year and set a new LPGA Tour single-season scoring average record (68.681), besting Annika Sorenstam’s 2002 average of 68.696.
But amid the roar of victory, she remains the same unassuming young woman from Ratchaburi, Thailand – a place where golf was once as foreign as the sprawling courses she now conquers.
“Standing here with the trophy on Sunday… it’s more than I really, really could ask for, for sure,” she said on the LPGA Tour website.
“My life will still be the same, I guess. I think I’ve been the same human being as you guys. I had to work. I have things to do. I had some happy moments. I had some sad moments. Just sum up describing a life.”
Born on Feb 20, 2003, in the modest provincial town of Ratchaburi, about 100km south-west of Bangkok, Jeeno’s early years unfolded in a world far removed from the spotlight of professional sport.
Her family was not steeped in athletic tradition; her father, Montree, ran a local car wash, while her mother, Siriwan, worked as a hairdresser – she revealed in a Golf Digest interview in 2022.
Golf entered her life almost by medical prescription.
As a child prone to frequent colds and respiratory issues, Jeeno’s doctor suggested an outdoor activity to build her stamina, and options included tennis or golf.
At just six years old, she opted for the latter after catching glimpses of the sport on television.
“No one in my family plays golf,” she told Golf Digest.
“As a child, I was sick a lot. It wasn’t anything serious, but I got colds constantly. A doctor said that I needed to play a sport. We watched golf on TV and I chose that over tennis. Tennis requires too much running.
“I liked golf immediately. It was challenging and fun.”
At 14, she shattered records by becoming the youngest winner on the Ladies European Tour at the 2017 Ladies European Thailand Championship – but she did not forget her humble beginnings.
Even as she ascended to world No. 1 in 2022 at 19 years and eight months, the second-youngest ever behind only Lydia Ko (17 years and nine months), Jeeno downplayed the milestone.
“I play golf because I want to take care of my family,” she said in an interview with the LPGA Tour that year. “I want to feed my family. Ranking is not that important to me.”
It is a sentiment echoed in her daily life, where success is measured less by trophies and more by the quiet joys shared with loved ones. Food, in fact, emerges as one of her simple pleasures.
When Jeeno won the 2024 Tour Championship, she ordered papaya salad to celebrate, as she told Golf Week on Nov 22. It is too spicy to eat during the tournament, so she saved it for Sunday night, when everything was over.
“Like crying after I eat it,” she said. “Like spicy, Thai spicy. You’re far away from home. To be able to eat the food that you love and the food that you’re used to just feels like home.”
Despite her rapid success, she remains humble and grounded.
In an interview with the Bangkok Post in March, she encouraged young golfers to follow their own paths and not idolise her too much.
“Every person has their own path,” she said. “I hear some amateur golfers say they want to be like Jeeno, but that isn’t necessary. Nobody can be exactly like someone else.”
That said, she hopes to inspire more Thai and Asian golfers to stand on the global stage.
Jeeno believes that many such athletes have the talent to succeed abroad but do not dare take the first step due to the fear of the unknown.
“Some find it scary to be away from home for a whole year,” she said.
“They see foreign athletes as strong but don’t view themselves the same way.”
“I want to show them that we have the potential and talent to compete with Americans or Europeans. We, especially women golfers, are strong.”
Education also remains a cornerstone, a nod to the balanced upbringing her parents instilled.
According to the Golf Digest interview, Jeeno attended a bilingual school in Ratchaburi – her favourite subject was English – while juggling national team commitments by age 13.
She never lost sight of the classroom, viewing it as essential to her identity beyond the fairways.
“Golf is part of your life, but it’s not your whole life,” she said in a 2021 Ladies European Tour feature, a philosophy that has helped her navigate the pressures of prodigy status.
In a way, she has got to where she is today because she has hardly got ahead of herself. Her Tour Championship win feels as much a reflection of her inner compass as her iron play.
But for someone who is the current world No. 1, it is only natural that she has the highest goals, regardless of how grounded she may be.
“My next goal is to win a Major. I don’t care which one; I’ll take any of them,” she quipped to Golf Digest.
Jeeno lives a life where golf elevates without eclipsing family and friends. In a sport that can swallow souls, she demonstrates that true victory lies in staying whole.
Her success on the LPGA Tour thus far – rooted in Ratchaburi’s dust and destined for the skies – already inspires.
