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World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul is still searching for the first major title of her young career, and the Thai star believes the key to unlocking success is in her short game.
Thitikul has another chance to work out her major challenges at the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club this week.
“I think getting up-and-down is the biggest challenge for me because I know I hit like a lot of greens when I was young, and I wasn’t really chipping [a lot],” Thitikul said on Monday. “I love to practice my putting. My dad brought me to the driving range a lot. That’s why I hit a lot of greens.
“My coach, Kris [Assawapimonporn], always says that chipping is so fun. I’m always like, ‘No, that sounds boring to me.’ But I do tell him that putting is fun too, and then he’s like, ‘No, that’s so boring.’ You just do one thing all the time and then repeat that. Repeat that. He just loves chipping and then playing shots all around. Chip it around the tree, cover the tree, under the tree.”
Thitikul, 23, has nine LPGA wins and 59 career top-10s. She has $18.4 million in career earnings and is the reigning player of the year. Yet, she’s never won that elusive major, and she’s joked before that she doesn’t think about it except when people often ask her about it.
She’s played in four U.S. Women’s Opens, missing the cut in two, with a best finish of T-6 at Lancaster (Pa.) Country Club in 2024. Thitikul isn’t sure there’s a common theme as to why she hasn’t won this major in particular. But patience is one.
“I think all the U.S. Opens that I have are so different because we had different courses, different mindset, different weather outside,” Thitikul said. “I think you need to really be patient in a U.S. Open. On the 18th hole, you definitely know that you’re not going to make birdie bombs as you make in a lot of tournaments. You definitely had a tough up-and-down, and then you have to bounce back from some places that maybe just see impossible things. I think you have to keep being really patient. I think it’s a good advantage for being in the U.S. Open.”
Thitikul had a disappointing first major of the season by missing the cut in the Chevron Championship. She made her next start two weeks later at the Mizuho Americas Open and won it, for her second title of the season. Her first was the memorable win in her home country at the LPGA Thailand.
Even as young as she is, Thitikul is arguably the best player who has yet to win a major. She’s played in 28 total—three as an amateur—and has nine top-10s. She had her closest call at the Amundi Evian Championship last year, but finished second after losing to Australian Grace Kim in a two-hole playoff.
All would be forgotten if she can win here, where the U.S. Women’s Open kicks off a stretch of four majors in the next two months—the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Women’s British Open and Evian Championship.
“I feel like the majors are coming up so close. I do love the time [between] Chevron to here, but from here, we just feel like we have major stress,” Thitikul said. “… If you’re at your peak in this period of time, you might have a really good long stretch.
“I prep for the U.S. Open, and then next week I have a week off, and I prep for, obviously, KPMG. It’s not like I have to make like 10 hours of prep in a day for just the U.S. Open or KPMG. I think we prep for just a better future. Not just the major, but the better future, the better games we’re going to have not just this year, but like my whole career in the future.”
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Main Image: Sarah Stier
