Jeeno Thitikul, the world No. 1 and reigning LPGA Tour Player of the Year, hasn’t skipped a beat coming out of the offseason.
Thitikul shot a -5 67 in her first round at Lake Nona Country Club in Orlando, leaving her one stroke back of leader Nasa Hataoka at the time of publishing. Not surprisingly, she was dominant in really every category.
Thitikul hit 12/14 fairways, hit 15/18 greens and had just 28 putts. That led to her six birdies with just one dropped shot.
Thitikul started a bit slow on the relatively gentler early holes, but made a birdie on five that really got her rolling. She added birdies on eight, nine and 10 to get into contention. Despite the bogey on 16, she did finish overall well, with birdies on the par 5 15 and the closing 18th.
Despite being eligible the last few years, this is Thitikul’s first time playing in the Tournament of Champions, any inexperience with the course or the format though didn’t really show.
Thitikul is coming off a dominant 2025 season where she won three times, had 14 top-10 finishes and led the Tour in scoring average. She enters the year as a dominant No. 1 ranked player.
