China’s Miranda Wang became the seventh rookie to win on the LPGA Tour this year thanks to a one-shot victory over World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul at the FM Championship.
Wang held the overnight lead but with Thitikul right on her heels, the pressure was on for the 26-year-old. She began strong on Sunday at TPC Boston, with back-to-back birdies at the 2nd and 3rd. A bogey at the 5th set her back, but she recovered with a third birdie, closing out the front nine at 20 under.
The newly titled World No. 1 Thitikul, who won over the ranking from Nelly Korda three weeks ago, did not make it easy for the rookie as she fired through the final round with six birdies. She climbed from 15 under to tie with Wang by the 12th. And when Wang bogeyed the 15th, Thitikul looked to capitalize, nearing a second win for the season. But her first bogey of the round at the 17th dropped her from the solo lead and Wang held her nerve, making up for a missed birdie putt at the 16th with one from 6-feet on the penultimate hole. The pressure was on as the pair both parred the 18th but Wang went on to card a 2-under 70 to extend the streak of no multiple winners on the LPGA Tour to date.
“I hope this is the first of many, and I’ll keep working hard,” said Wang afterwards of her first LPGA win. “This is a dream come true.”
“On the back nine of the first round, I started hitting really good shots,” she added. “I felt like this could be my week. I worked really hard and didn’t give up.”
A final-round 67 saw Thitkul take second place on 19 under, sealing her eighth top-five finish of 2025.
“I don’t think I do anything wrong. Just technique-wise just some mistakes,” the Thai player said afterwards when asked about the final round.
South Korea’s Sei Young Kim finished two shots back in third on 17 under. America’s Andrea Lee took fourth on 16 under and her fellow American Rose Zhang and South Korea’s Jin Hee Im shared fifth on 15 under to round off the top-5.
What is the next event?
The next event on the LPGA Tour schedule is the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G taking place between 11-14 September at TPC River’s Bend in Ohio, USA.