Staff WriterJeeno Thitikul sealed the 2025 Rolex Player of the Year award in Florida on Sunday, standing tall on the 18th green at Tiburon Golf Club as the LPGA’s season reached its curtain call. The 22-year-old walked away not only with the Rolex Player of the Year award but also the Vare Trophy, completing one of the most commanding campaigns the Tour has seen in years.
It all came down to the season finale. Trailing by 16 points, Miyu Yamashita needed to win the CME Group Tour Championship to steal the honour, but her challenge fizzled out with a tie for 36th. That left Thitikul, steady as a metronome all season, to collect the trophy that has only been won by one other Thai player—Ariya Jutanugarn—since its creation in 1966.
Thitikul didn’t just clinch the big award; she rewrote the record book. She claimed the 2025 Vare Trophy with a 68.681 scoring average, beating the previous LPGA Tour single-season record set by Annika Sorenstam in 2002. She outpaced Nelly Korda, Minjee Lee, and Yamashita to become only the third player in Tour history to post a sub-69 seasonal scoring average. That’s not just tidy golf—it’s surgical.
Her year was a model of consistency. Twenty starts, 14 top-10s, and two wins—first the Mizuho Americas Open, then the Buick LPGA Shanghai. She made only one cut all season, and even that stumble came at the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally. She led the Tour across multiple statistical categories and reclaimed her place as the world’s No. 1 in August. Simply put, she gave the rest of the field little daylight.
This latest haul pushes her list of accolades to five season-ending honours:
• 2022 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year
• 2023 and 2025 Vare Trophy
• 2024 Aon Risk Reward Challenge
• 2025 Rolex Player of the Year
Not bad for someone who is still only 22 and already sits on seven career LPGA victories, including back-to-back CME Group Tour Championships in 2024 and 2025. She shattered Lorena Ochoa’s single-season earnings record in 2024 with $6,059,309 and continues to rack up achievements on the global stage, from the Paris Olympics to two appearances at the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown.
Her résumé stretches even longer when you factor in the Ladies European Tour. In 2021, she became the youngest Order of Merit winner in LET history and one of just four players ever to take both Rookie of the Year and Order of Merit in the same season.
The Rolex Player of the Year award itself is one of the LPGA’s most coveted honours. Introduced in 1966, it hands its recipient a point toward the Hall of Fame, with players earning points based on top-10 finishes across the season. Major championships carry double points, turning every big week into a chance to change destiny.
The Vare Trophy has its own illustrious story. Created in 1952 by Betty Jameson in honour of Glenna Collett Vare, it recognises the player with the lowest scoring average across official events—no shortcuts, no soft rounds, no mercy.
Thitikul met all that head on and rewrote history in the process. Steady, ruthless, and entirely unfazed by pressure, she delivered a season that will be talked about for years.
This wasn’t just a good year. It was a statement—one carved with precision, nerve, and a swing that refuses to blink.
