NAPLES, Fla. — Gino Titicle capped off her best year yet with her biggest accomplishment in women’s golf, entering the LPGA record books with the lowest scoring average in the tour’s 75-year history.
As if she had an easy Sunday with a four-stroke victory at the CME Group Tour Championship, she remembers it wasn’t always so smooth.
Two months ago, he lost the Kroger Queen City Championship with a four-putt finish.
“I put ice packs in my eyes because I cried so much,” she said.
Then last week, he injured his wrist on the hard grass at his home in Dallas, leaving him unsure whether he would make it through the final four rounds of the season at Tiburon Golf Club, let alone win. She cut back on her practice sessions to help with that.
“I think saying at the beginning of the week that I could finish four rounds of golf here was more than I could have asked for already,” she said. “But standing here on Sunday with the trophy, it’s like more than I could ever really, really hope for.”
Inside the ropes, she looked as dominant as the No. 1 player in women’s golf.
Titikul, who entered the final day at Tiburon Golf Club with a six-shot lead over Nelly Korda, made two birdies early on the back nine to fend off an early challenge from Pajari Anannarkhan and won her second straight CME Group Tour Championship with a 4-under 68.
This means another $4 million check, the largest in women’s golf, pushing her season earnings to $7,578,300. With her final birdie from 10 feet, she narrowly broke Annika Sorenstam’s scoring record — Titikul’s 68.681 and Sorenstam’s 68.697 in 2002.
“I mean, I never dreamed of achieving a record like that,” she said. “And if you can achieve the lowest average score of your entire career even once, that would be really amazing.”
What she didn’t know was how close it was at one point Sunday.
Anantnarkarn, who was playing in a group ahead of his fellow Thai, started with five birdies in seven holes to close the gap to two strokes. He advanced to the back nine with a two-stroke lead.
But Titikul then birdied the 10th and 13th, and Anannarkhan dropped a shot on the par-3 12th. The lead was back to five strokes, and Titicle returned home with a free. She didn’t look at the leaderboard until she got to the par-5 17th and didn’t realize her Thai friend was following her.
Titicle raised his arms as he made the final birdie and ended up covered in foam on the 18th green. Titikul finished at 26-under 262, joining Ko Jin-young as the only consecutive winners of the CME Group Tour Championship.
The win also guaranteed her the LPGA Player of the Year award, but the outcome was already decided as Women’s Open winner Miyu Yamashita needed to win.
Korda, who replaced Titicle as No. 1 in the women’s golf rankings, became the first player since Tiger Woods in 2010 to go from seven wins in one season to zero the following year.
She started the day facing long odds, six strokes behind, but fell further behind with one bogey and no birdies on the front nine. She holed out for eagle on the 11th and shot 31 on the back for a 68 and finished third. Next month, Korda will compete in the mixed team Grant Thornton Invitational and the PNC Championship with her father.
Asked to describe this year, Korda replied, “It’s been tough.”
“There have been a lot of ups and downs, and I feel like that has helped me grow a lot mentally. And I can also say that I’m very grateful for that because success is never linear,” she said.
