Jeeno Thitikul tore up the LPGA Tour in Hawaii, securing her fourth title of the year with a masterclass performance. 21-under-par on the scoreboard, a 68 – a truly stellar round – in the final round; the world No. 2 once again showed what she's capable of at Hoakalei Country Club on Oahu.
South Korea's Yoon In-a started exceptionally strong, also posting a 68 to secure second place at 18-under. But Jeeno was simply unstoppable on the day, even though it got incredibly tight towards the end – it was certainly not for the faint-hearted!
A double bogey on the 16th – the six on her scorecard saw her lead melt away, dropping Jeeno to 19-under. But what followed was pure mental fortitude: back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th! As if nothing had happened, she restored her three-shot lead and prevented a playoff the world was so eager to see.
Jeeno herself was stunned afterward: 'I have absolutely no idea how I did that,' she admitted. 'It was a really good fight with In-a. She was playing incredibly well on the front nine. But I knew I had to focus on my own game. The 16th was terrible, a real nightmare hole for me. But I just told myself there were still two holes left, and anything could happen.'
Japan's Miyu Yamashita secured third place with a 67 and 17-under, followed by American Auston Kim in fourth. China's Michelle Zhang and Sweden's Maja Stark shared fifth place at 15-under-par – six strokes behind the winner.
