ORLANDO, Fla. – Jeeno Thitikul went camping during the offseason. The World No. 1 slept in a tent someplace in the mountains of Thailand where there was no phone signal. For three days, she hiked.
Like every other top player before her, Thitikul, 22, is in the process of figuring out how to find a good life balance. The more success that comes her way, the harder that becomes.
“If I were in Thailand, people might come like, what’s happening? You had a great year. And then when are you going up next? I think a thousand times that I have been listening and answering that question,” said Thitikul.
This marks the first time Thitikul has made the January trek to Florida for the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. The TOC is on an island on the schedule. After two weeks off, the tour heads to Asia for three weeks before returning to the U.S. in March.
Thitikul opened with a 5-under 67 at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club to trail only Nasa Hataoka by one stroke. World No. 2 Nelly Korda sits two back at 4 under.
“It’s kind of tough for me to come overseas from Thailand to here, just especially one week,” said Thitikul of making her debut this week. “Obviously I think it just – our responsibility is to the sponsor, too, and to the celebrities, to the tour. I think they love to see us, they love to see all the top players that showing up here. I don’t think they expect the result that much but they expecting to – us to have fun with all the celebrities and then to enjoying it in a unique environment and unique tournament and format.”
It’s worth noting that LPGA has a 1-in-4 rule to encourage players to go that extra mile. The tour’s 1-in-4 requirement stipulates that players in the top 80 of the CME points list compete in a domestic event once every four years.
The history of the 1-in-4 dates back more than 20 years and originally applied to domestic events only, as those made up the bulk of the schedule. With names like Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb and Se Ri Pak dominating headlines, it was important for tournament directors to get those LPGA Hall of Famers into their fields. The rule was put in place to protect title sponsors.
As the tour grew more internationally, former commissioner Mike Whan extended the rule to apply to international events as well, before switching back to domestic only in 2016.
Players who skip a tournament four times in a row will pay a five-figure fine. Once players have made 200 official starts, they are exempt from the rule beginning the following season. Thitikul, a seven-time winner on the LPGA, was first eligible for the TOC in 2023.
After winning a second consecutive CME Group Tour Championship, Thitikul put the clubs away to heal a wrist injury that flared up late last year. An MRI showed inflammation of a tendon, so Thitikul laid off practice until the New Year. Following this week’s TOC, she’ll return home to Thailand to prepare for her home event on the LPGA.
After climbing to No. 1 in the world and sweeping last year’s post-season awards, the only thing missing from her sparkling resume is a major championship victory. The LPGA’s most consistent player has nine top-10 finishes in 27 major starts, her closest brush coming last year at the Amundi Evian Championship when she lost to Grace Kim in a dramatic playoff.
When asked if she talked about the roadmap to winning one of the majors with longtime swing coach, Kris Assawapimonporn, Thitikul said no.
“I definitely think that he would [have that] thought in his mind,” she said, “but what he didn’t say it to me, and I didn’t say anything because he know that my personality is that I’m not going to say about the wins at all.
“So that’s why. We just work, hit balls, balls, balls, putts, yeah.”
Thitikul played alongside former tennis pro Mardy Fish in the opening round at Nona, and he marveled at her ball flight and work on the greens, calling her a sweetheart.
“Played with Nelly and played with some of the girls in this tournament that are, that have been No. 1 kind of at the time,” said Fish, who leads the celebrity division, “It’s just super cool to see it up close.”
Thitikul said she doesn’t feel quite “ready-ready” yet, calling it maybe 60 to 70 percent there. After a 2025 season of 14 top 10s, including three victories, Thitikul was asked after the round how she can put that all behind her and start fresh.
“I don’t even know how,” she said. “I still trying to do, and then I think maybe you have to be grounded and then you have to you know, put yourself where you want it more.”
Otherwise, she said, burnout can happen. But has she ever felt burnout?
“You know, sometimes you get lazy. You get burnout of hitting balls,” she said. “When you guys have been in the office for a long time, I’m pretty sure you get burned out sometimes. But, life goes on. Still have work to do. If not, we got no moneeeey.”
And then a 22-year-old who has already made more than $17 million inside the ropes, lit up the room with that mega-watt smile.
Picking up in 2026 right where she left off.
