Jeeno Thitikul arrived at the Mizuho Americas Open with no expectations for her title defense. She left with a dominant victory.
Two weeks earlier, Thitikul admitted at the Chevron Championship that she hears the chatter about her lack of a major win. The then-world No. 1 called it the “challenge” of her career to finally break through at the biggest events. But that week ended in disappointment: she missed the cut at Memorial Park as Nelly Korda captured her third major and reclaimed the top ranking. Thitikul took a week off after the early exit in Houston and returned to defend her Mizuho title with a fresh approach.
Her perspective has always been grounded. She learned the game at a driving range in Ratchaburi, Thailand—a small town near Bangkok with no golf course of its own. She has achieved more than she ever imagined, so while winning a major is a dream, she doesn’t seek validation from others.
“I don’t think I have to prove anything to like even other players or people or myself, because like what I have I already proved for a long, long time,” Thitikul said Friday at Mountain Ridge Country Club. “It’s just a certain time that golf seems easy for you. Then I have a certain time [where] golf is so hard for me, which is Chevron, it’s one of the weeks that I feel like, ‘What did I do wrong?’ … I’m like, ‘What did golf do to me right now?’ And then coming to this week, didn’t expect anything, to be honest.”
Thitikul won earlier this season in Thailand but struggled after the LPGA returned to the U.S. in March. After the Chevron exit, she talked with her coach about swing issues—especially her iron play—and they decided to try a new mindset: try less.
“When you put the work [in] and don’t see the results, sometimes you are really disappointed,” Thitikul said earlier this week. “He said, ‘Maybe, don’t try.’ Then, if you don’t try, maybe you don’t expect anything.”
That shift liberated Thitikul in West Caldwell, New Jersey. The 23-year-old opened with rounds of 67 and 69, taking a three-shot lead into the weekend. Celine Boutier narrowed the gap to two after the third round, but Thitikul slammed the door on Sunday. She birdied the second and third holes while Boutier bogeyed three straight to drop out of contention. Ruoning Yin made five birdies on the front nine to pull within one, but bogeys at 11 and 16 stalled her run. Thitikul sealed her title defense with a 20-foot birdie putt on 18, finishing at 13 under and winning by four.
Trying less got her exactly where she wanted to be.
“It helped me a lot,” Thitikul said after the win. “I just stayed in my bubble, stayed on what I can do. [If] golf is not going to be good, then golf is not going to be good. My life is not changing. I think what I have to think about is just what I can control.”
As always, the celebration quickly turned to questions about when she will finally win a major. With the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera a month away, both her mind and game seem to be peaking at the right time. That’s something Jeeno Thitikul wants—but not something the world No. 2 will stress over. If the major victory comes, it comes. If it doesn’t, so be it.
