Atthaya Thitikul, the Thai teenager who climbed to the highest of the world rankings in October, has clinched the LPGA Rookie of the 12 months award, the tour mentioned on Thursday.
Atthaya, who has two victories to this point this season (on the JTBC Basic and the NW Arkansas Championship), was assured of the award after her nearest rival, South Korean Choi Hye-jin, withdrew from this week’s Pelican Ladies’s Championship – which has been shortened to 54 holes due to heavy rain from Tropical Storm Nicole.
Atthaya is the second straight Thai participant to seize Rookie of the 12 months honours after Patty Tavatanakit final yr. Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn earned the award in 2013.
“It’s such an honour to win the Rookie of the 12 months award, particularly being the second consecutive participant from Thailand to win this honour,” the 19-year-old from Thailand’s western Ratchaburi Province.
“I’m completely happy to have made my house nation proud. My rookie yr has been actually enjoyable and memorable, however we nonetheless have a protracted technique to go,” added Atthaya, who has 12 top-10 finishes along with her victories this season.
ALSO READ – European golfers get pay guarantee in face of LIV threat
She grew to become the second-youngest World No. 1 in ladies’s golf historical past on October 31, when she supplanted South Korea’s Ko Jin-young. New Zealand’s Lydia Ko was 17 when she first topped the rankings in 2015.
Atthaya earned LPGA tour membership after a third-place end at LPGA Q-Collection in 2021 and grabbed her first victory in March with a playoff win over Nanna Koerstz Madsen. She earned her second title in September with one other playoff triumph.
Atthaya’s rise within the skilled ranks follows an impressive newbie profession that noticed her develop into the youngest particular person ever to win an expert event on the 2017 Women European Thailand Championship at 14 years, 4 months and 19 days.
Previous to her rookie season on the LPGA tour, Atthaya received Rookie of the 12 months and Participant of the 12 months honours and the Race to Costa del Sol on the Women European Tour in 2021.
