Thitikul wins LPGA Tour final: $4 million and historic record

The LPGA Tour ended its 2025 season with a bang: At the high-paying CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida, world number one Jeeno Thitikul dominated the field and not only secured the title, but also one of the biggest checks in the history of the sport. With her victory, the 22-year-old Thai crowned a season of superlatives in which she broke several records.

The total prize money of the tournament amounted to eleven million US dollars. The winner alone received the record prize money of four million US dollars, the highest in the history of women's golf.

You can find the complete leaderboard for the 2025 CME Group Tour Championship here.

The crowning glory of the LPGA Tour: Thitikul dominates the final

Jeeno Thitikul started Sunday at Tiburón Golf Club with a comfortable six-shot lead over American Nelly Korda. Although victory seemed inevitable for a long time, Thitikul had to fight once again. Her best friend and compatriot, Pajaree Anannarukarn, who had qualified for the season finale in last place (60th), launched an impressive attack and reduced the gap to just two strokes. Anannarukarn put the leader under massive pressure with five Birdies in the first seven holes.

However, Thitikul kept her nerve and countered on the back nine. She recorded Birdies on holes 10 and 13, while Anannarukarn had to accept a stroke loss on the 12th. This restored the five-stroke lead. Thitikul finished the round with a 4-under-par 68 and a total score of 26-under-par (262), which gave her a four-stroke lead. With this triumph, Thitikul joined an exclusive circle: after Jin Young Ko (2020, 2021), she is only the second player in history to win the CME Group Tour Championship twice in a row.

Records for the ages: The best year in LPGA Tour history

The win in Naples was Thitikul's third of the season and the most important as it opened the door to historic honors.

The scoring record

Thitikul needed a 69 or better in the final round to break a 23-year-old record. She achieved this impressively. With her final Birdie on the 18th hole, she fixed the new lowest scoring average in LPGA Tour history:

• New record (2025): 68,681
• Old record (2002): Annika Sörenstam 68.697

This makes her only the third player after Sörenstam and Lydia Ko (2022) to finish a season with an average below 69.0.

Important awards in 2025

In addition to the CME Group Tour Championship title, Thitikul secured the two most prestigious awards in women's golf:

• Rolex Players of the Year: Winner (first time).
• Vare Trophy: Winner for the lowest scoring average (for the second year running).
• Race to CME Globe: Winner of the season standings.

The stats prove Thitikul's dominance this LPGA Tour season: she led the Tour in wins (3), strokes gained: Total, Birdie-or-better percentage, Bogey avoidance, Par-3 and Par-4 scoring.

Career leaps on the LPGA Tour

Another four million dollar payout catapulted Thitikul up the LPGA Tour career prize money list.

• Perpetual money list: Thitikul moved up 12 spots to No. 7 on the All-Time Career Money List.
• Total Prize Money: In just four seasons on the LPGA Tour, she has now earned $17,369,400.
• Pace Record: She is the fastest player in Tour history to reach the $8 million to $17 million milestones.

Annika Sörenstam still tops the list with $22,583,693, but the gap to Thitikul is only around $5.2 million.

Number 1 mentality: the lessons of the season

Thitikul's season was characterized not only by records, but also by remarkable mental strength. She spoke openly about the challenges of professional sport. One low point was her loss at the Kroger Queen City Championship, where she suffered a costly four-putt on the 72nd hole. "I remember the day I got to Dallas after the Kroger," Thitikul said. "I had to put ice packs on my eyes because I was crying so bad. That's what I'm going to remember."

That defeat, of which she keeps a photo as a reminder of the low point, taught her an important lesson: "Whatever happened in your career doesn't define who you are and doesn't define who I am." She bounced back from that setback, traveled on vacation and won at her next start in China. Thitikul summarized the lesson of the LPGA Tour season: "This year has taught me, honestly, to be more humble. You're at the top, but you're definitely not going to be there one day. It's definitely not going to last forever in my career."