Thai Golf Wunderkind Atthaya Thitikul Nets Record-breaking $5M in Single Week

[snoop1130]

 

At a time when sports hallmarks transcend national boundaries, 21-years-old Thai golfer Atthaya "Jeeno" Thitikul has made a historic indent in the annals of professional women's golf. Beating competitors at California's esteemed CME Group Tour Championship, Thitikul has grown her career's LPGA Tour victory account to four, all while hitting the winner's circle with an eye-popping US$4m (Bt138 million) cheque.

 

Earlier the same week, Thitikul scooped another trophy and a significant US$1 million payout from the Aon Risk Reward Challenge, making her cumulative single-week earnings a whopping US$5m. To better illustrate the magnitude of this achievement, many pro golfers don't amass such earnings throughout their entire careers.

 

Swapping her club for modicum, Thitikul shared post-victory, "My million is good enough, at Aon. I'm not really thinking about the prize money that much". Her sentiment mirrors that of Lydia Ko, a pro golfer from New Zealand, underscoring that their primary ambition is to bolster the profile of golf, not pocket gains.

 

 

Initiating her golf voyage at merely six, Thitikul was guided through the choices of golf and tennis by her father. The decision clearly paid off, with her harvest of titles in 2021 alone including the venerated Ladies European Tour Order of Merit, Rookie of the Year, and Players' Player of the Year. This followed the accolades of two victories, three secondary finishes, and an additional nine top-ten endgames.

 

Adding another feather to her golfing cap, Thitikul clinched the no.1 worldwide rank on October 31, 2022, a first for her. Capping yet another successful year, the Thai athlete also collected the 2022 LPGA Tour's Rookie of the Year award. As of now, her LPGA Tour titles tally is firmly placed at four, inclusive of the 2024 Dow Championship she bagged in tandem with Chinese golfer Ruoning Yin. As a beacon of promise in the golfing circuit, Atthaya Thitikul's trajectory of success remains a compelling spectacle.

 

File photo for reference only

 

-- 2024-11-25

 

 

[WHansen]

She chased the leader down over the back nine holes with some awesome play to win it on the last hole.

Well done.