The world’s No. 2 ranked player, Jeeno Thitikul, got off to a strong start in the opening round of the 2026 AIG Women’s Open, shooting a -7 64 to take a two-stroke lead while the afternoon players are still finishing.
Thitikul got started fast with four birdies between holes four and eight to go out in 31. On the back, she added three more birdies and didn’t drop a stroke all day.
For the most part, it was the putter that fueled her all day. Though the pure counting numbers on her putting weren’t phenomenal, 27 total putts, the executions on the green were. She took advantage of every chance she had and stole some strokes out there as well.
Where the round really seemed to take off was on the par 5 11th, where she got too loose with her second shot and ended up in a tough bunker. After hitting a solid recovery to the green, she buried a long putt to get to -5 heading into the most difficult stretch at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.
Thitikul wasn’t only great with her putter, she hit consistently solid approach shots, hitting 16 out of 18 greens and giving herself realistic makable putts.
At this point, Thitikul is the almost consensus choice for best player without a major. While she is just 23-years-old, her resumé of nine LPGA Tour wins and a couple of Tour Championships would normally point to a major champion.
Thitikul’s dominant round of 64 was the lowest round shot by any player in the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.
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