No One is Playing Better Golf Than Jeeno Thitikul

Lydia Ko capturing her 23rd LPGA title at the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore is something to marvel at. Having already secured Hall of Fame status—everything Ko does now is just another impressive notch in an already impressive belt.

For instance, Ko just surpassed legendary Karrie Webb moving into second place on the official career money list, sitting behind none other than Annika Sörenstam. As one of the biggest stars on Tour today, seeing Ko in the winner's circle will always attract buzz, and rightfully so.

It's hard to debate that Ko isn't one of the best golfers of this generation at just 27 years old—however make no ifs, ands, or buts in my mind about who the best player in women's golf is at the moment.

Jeeno Thitikul, the No.2 player in the world, is on a quiet tear. Highlighted by her wins at the CME Group Tour Championship in November and her win in Saudi Arabia for an Ladies European Tour event a couple weeks ago, Thitikul has had nine top-10 finishes in her last 10 consecutive starts, dating back to August of last year at the FM Championship.

And last year wasn't a walk in the park for Thitikul. She suffered a lingering tendon injury in her hand for most of the 2024 season, only making 17 starts (she typically plays in more than 20 events in a season), but when she did tee it up, she made it count. Despite a decrease in rounds played, Thitikul has been the player with the lowest scoring average (69.55) over the last two seasons.

Her scoring average since August? An insane 67.4. Over her last 29 rounds played, she's a combined 129 under par (24 of those rounds have been in the 60s); but sadly her streak of sub-72 rounds came to an end during Friday's second round at HSBC.

The 22 year old is playing remarkable golf. Her ability to be so consistent is one of the most dangerous aspects of her game. Even when she's not leading, she's in contention. She had an off day shooting an even par-72, but backed it up with a 66 and 70 respectively to grind out another week with her name near the top of the leaderboard.

After Sunday's final round, Thitikul reflected on her recent hot-streak, saying, "I'm just the type of person, not go like high-high and not go like low-low. That's the most important that I really want to keep it because the more really consistent that you are, it's giving you a good chance every week."

Now that she's getting healthy, her potential seems to be unlimited. We’ve talked about Angel Yin and Nelly Korda having big years—there's a ton of golf left to be played—but this season feels like it's shaking out to be less about one player being dominant and more of a variety of players entering the winner's circle and placing their names on the map. Previous winner's this season A Lim Kim and Yealimi Noh have played well during the Asia swing, with their names circulating around the top-10.

It feels fitting that the theme of 75th year of this tour will be about showcasing the global talent and how rich it really is. Jeeno Thitikul's recent stretch is truly a "man, these guys are good" moment personified.