In this past season, prize purses have been the talk of the town. While LIV Golf offered $25 million at most events, the PGA Tour did not lose in that race after giving away $100 million at the season finale or the usual $20 million at the signature events. On the LPGA Tour, though, the prize money doesn’t go over $3 million for many nonmajor events except the CME Group Tour Championship. It is the only event where the winner gets $4 million from a total of $11 million, and even the runner-up goes home with a $1 million check.

That’s why, after winning the 2024 CME Group Tour Championship as her fourth career victory, Jeeno Thitikul went home richer. Before the event, she also earned $1 million for leading the Aon Risk Reward Challenge. In a mere six days, the Thai pro earned $5 million. It is indeed a lot of money; has the reality set in for Thitikul? The 4-time LPGA Tour winner answered it at the press conference and said, “My million is good enough, at Aon. I think I’m at the point that I’m not really thinking about the prize money that much.”

Furthermore, the 22-year-old pro loosely quoted what Lydia Ko said at the 2023 Grant Thornton Invitational and expressed, “We’re not here for the prize money. We here for growing the game of golf more.” The reason behind Thitikul’s 5-foot birdie win was also this. The LPGA Tour star revealed that as she walked on the 18th green and looked around, she understood that she was not just there to win millions but “just like trying to inspiring them and trying to do my best out there on 18,” said the 22-year-old pro.

She used her 6-iron from the fairway and found the ball nearest to the 18th hole. Even though she agreed that the final hole at the Tiburon Golf Club is harder than others, her iron helped, and her focus on inspiration catapulted her to become the 2024 CME Group Tour Champion. Although Thitkul said that the prize money was not something she was eyeing, the $4 million check still helped her to crack the LPGA Tour record that even Nelly Korda could not break.

Jeeno Thitikul breaks LPGA Tour’s official money record

Jeeno Thitikul started her 2024 season later than most golfers on the LPGA Tour at the Chevron Championship. The Thai pro had injured her thumb during a practice session and was advised to rest before playing so as not to aggravate the injury. Following her 2024 start at the major, Thitikul’s results were mixed initially; she had a few top 10s but also missed the cut for two events.

However, with Ruoning Yin, Thitikul won the Dow Championship and cashed in $365,305. After this, the 22-year-old carded six top-10 finishes before teeing up at the CME Group Tour Championship, including two solo second finishes at the Kroger Queen City Championship and the Maybank Championship. All of these performances earned Thitikul $6,059,309 in official 2024 LPGA Tour money.

With this, Thitkul broke the record of earning the most in a single season, which Nelly Korda held after winning seven events and earning $4,391,930, breaking Lorena Ochoa’s 2007 $4.364 million record. So, even though the money aspect was not something Thitikul was focused on, she still earned the most and will now be buying a Dyson and also giving her caddie, Banpot Bunpisansaree, the biggest check that she always wanted to give.