Jeeno Thitikul finished a successful defense of her title at the Mizuho Americas Open, carding a final-round 3-under-par 69 to win by four strokes Sunday in West Caldwell, N.J.
Thitikul, who topped the leaderboard for the final three days, won the tournament in back-to-back years on different courses. She won by four shots last May at Liberty National Golf Club in nearby Jersey City before repeating the feat this year at Mountain Ridge Country Club.
The World No. 2 captured her second victory of 2026 after winning in her native Thailand in February. It marks her ninth win on the LPGA Tour and draws her closer to Nelly Korda, who regained the No. 1 ranking from Thitikul last month and took this week off following consecutive wins.
“I think for me, world ranking or top players doesn’t really define what I’m doing,” Thitikul said after earning the $487,500 championship check. “I think I’m just trying to just do my best out there, trying to be consistency as I can, because I know it’s going to be a really tough competition in and out every week, on and off every week, and different courses.”
Thitikul shot a 13-under 275 for the week, with China’s Ruoning Yin (69 on Sunday) alone in second at 9 under par. Yin gave chase with five birdies on the front nine, including four straight at Nos. 5-8, before she made two bogeys with zero birdies on the back.
“I didn’t see the leaderboard at all and I didn’t know the situations at all,” Thitikul said. “I think I might know on like 12 or something, but accidentally, you know, because the hole is really close to each other, right?
“And then, yeah, I knew she had a really good run on catching the leader, and then I think it’s just a normal day that definitely, you’re the leader and then definitely the players will need to catch up, and then they will have a really good run for Sunday to be able to win the tournaments anyway. But I just really stay on — in my bubble. I just really focus on my tempo, what I can control, and then it’s turn out to be good.”
Thitikul made birdies at Nos. 2-3 before a string of nine pars was interrupted by a bogey at the par-5 13th. She still held a narrow lead before cementing it with birdies at the par-3 16th and par-4 18th.
Yin said she was pleased with where her game is at despite coming up short on the leaderboard.
“Yeah, I think this week will be my fifth runner-up in had 19 months, so I don’t know, I think it’s coming,” Yin said. “I just think something cool is going to happen. I just don’t know when.”
Tied for third at 8 under were Jenny Bae (bogey-free 66), Alison Lee (69), Mexico’s Gaby Lopez (69) and South Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi (71). Bae had the low round of the day, with four of her six birdies coming on the front nine.
“I honestly didn’t expect to make no bogeys,” Bae said. “I actually came in thinking I have to make a lot of birdies in case I make mistakes, because out there it’s kind of inevitable. But luckily I was able to save everything, up and down when I needed to. I think everything was cruise control.”
–Field Level Media
