Jeeno Thitikul defeated Minami Katsu in a five-hole playoff to win the Buick LPGA Shanghai. She becomes the first multiple-time winner on tour this season.
Thitikul began her final round trailing Japan’s Minami Katsu by two shots. Thitikul was flawless on the front nine with four birdies en route to a 32 (-4). Her back nine started with four pars until she caught fire. Thitikul made three birdies in a row starting on the par-4 14th and capped it off with an eagle on the par-5 17th to shoot a round of 63 (-9).
After leading by two strokes to start the day, Katsu had an excellent start to her round with six birdies in her first 13 holes. She was unable to match Thitikul coming down the stretch and went to a playoff. After four holes of the two players trading pars, Thitikul made a birdie to Katsu’s par to win on the fifth playoff hole.
Just a month earlier, Thitikul lost in heartbreaking fashion after she four-putted the final hole at the Kroger Queen City Championship Presented by P&G. She had this to say after winning this week.
“Definitely cried a lot. Not going to lie, cried quite a lot. And then I do have like, you know, a really amazing off week, which is we spend time with no golf in Canada, and then just like remind me that whatever it’s happened, it’s the past. And then I’m a human, which means I make mistakes for sure, and that everyone does,” she said.
Although Katsu did not win, she has played very well the last few weeks. Her last three tournament finishes have been runner-up, third and T1 at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G, which was cancelled after the first round. She had this to say after her tournament this week.
“Yeah, I was able to continue playing great golf since last week, so it was great playing here. I was able to play out here in the playoff. Obviously, not winning is kind of disappointing, but really happy with how solid I played throughout the week,” she said.
Thitikul earned $330,000 in prize money and 500 points in the season-long competition, Race to CME Globe. She extended her lead over Minjee Lee to 870 points.
The LPGA Tour continues next week at the BMW Ladies Championship in Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do, Republic of Korea. Australia’s Hannah Green looks to defend her title after her wire-to-wire victory last year.
