Thitikul Secures Victory in CME Tournament without Winning the Tournament

Atthaya Thitikul from Thailand has just finished her season on a high note, despite not winning a tournament. She recently won the Vare Trophy with a 69.533 scoring average over 75 rounds, beating out Hyo Joo Kim by less than 0.1 strokes. This makes Thitikul the first player to win the scoring title without winning a tournament, and she’s also the second Thai to win the Vare.

Thitikul’s fifth-place finish at the CME Group Tour Championship on Sunday marked her 13th top-10 finish of the season. However, she shared that a brief summer slump – two missed cuts in majors and a WD after an opening 79 at the Women’s Scottish – challenged her; she had no idea she was going to win the Vare Trophy. Despite this setback, Thitikul played really badly in the middle of the season, missed two cuts in major events, and wasn’t playing well in the middle of the year. However, she is just really happy that she overcame this situation and ended up winning such an impressive award.