Jeeno Thitikul (-17) has won the Mizuho Americas Open on the LPGA Tour. Unchallenged. She delivered a scorecard of 69 strokes in the final round, without bogeys, and secured the victory with a four-stroke lead over Celine Boutier (-13) and five over Carlota Ciganda (-12) and Andrea Lee (-12). At the foot of the Statue of Liberty, the Thai golfer has once again demonstrated that she is currently the most in-form player in the world. This is evidenced by the thirteen top 10 finishes she has accumulated in her last fifteen appearances on the LPGA Tour. She is in another dimension. Her worst result since August is a 24th place.
The truth is that the final day didn’t have much of a story. Thitikul gave no chance. She made no mistakes in a truly demanding setting due to the wind, and her opponents were not sharp. Neither Yealimi Noh, nor Nelly Korda, nor Celine Boutier, nor Carlota Ciganda or Andrea Lee managed to score below 70 strokes. Thitikul was relentless. She made birdies on the 1st, 9th, and 17th, dashing any hopes her rivals had of catching her. Her play around the green this week has been delightful.
This is Jeeno’s fifth victory on the LPGA Tour and the tenth in her career if we include those she has achieved on the Ladies European Tour. Ten victories at just 22 years old. A whirlwind. She is still the World Number 2, but Nelly Korda, who finished today with 73 strokes, must be cautious to avoid the sorpasso.
Carlota Ciganda has had a brilliant week. She has had four rounds under par. She is the only golfer in the tournament to have scored 70 strokes or less in each of the rounds. This Sunday, she made four birdies and two bogeys. It was very solid golf, with truly brilliant shots. Catching Thitikul was impossible, but the Navarrese golfer secured a magnificent third place. It is her best position of the season. She already has three top 10 finishes and has placed herself among the top 30 in the Race to CME Globe.
Carlota admitted at the end of the tournament that she was very satisfied and that one of the keys to the week was having her coach, Jorge Parada, with her every day, one of the professionals at the Liberty National course, where this tournament was held.
The bad news was for Julia López (-1). The golfer from Málaga couldn’t cap off her best week on the LPGA Tour with a good round. A scorecard of 79 strokes on Sunday caused her to lose many positions and fall to 29th place from the top 10 where she started in the final round. Her performance on the last day was marked by a devastating start, with a double bogey and a quadruple bogey in the first three holes.
