Atthaya ‘Jeeno’ Thitikul’s golf journey has been one for the books. The 21-year-old won her first professional event at the Ladies European Tour’s Thailand Championship. At the age of 14 years, four months, and 19 days, she became the youngest winner of the LET in 2017. From raking in wins as an amateur on the professional circuit to turning pro in 2020, when and where did Thitikul’s love for golf start? The prodigy began playing golf at the age of six when her father gave her two options to choose from.

Coming from the small province of Ratchaburi in Thailand, Thitikul recalls that as a child, she had many allergies and was always falling sick. Thus, the doctors advised her father, Montree (Chinese), and mother, Siriwan (Thai), to let her spend more time outside and play sports. As a result, her father gave her two options: golf or tennis. Thitikul chose the former and revealed to Golf Digest, “We watched golf on TV, and I chose that over tennis. Tennis requires too much running.” From that point onwards, her journey to make it big in golf began.

The 4-time LET winner was in Ratchaburi, but her father found a golf teacher in Bangkok, about 130 miles away from their home. Despite the distance, her father, who owned a carwash, and her mother, a hairdresser, adjusted their schedules to take her to the capital every weekend. By the age of 10, Thitikul realized that if she played well and turned pro, she could better support her family. Her parents were also the reason she recently changed her first name to ‘Jeeno.’ The term ‘Jeen’ in Thai translates to ‘Chinese people,’ which is what her mother called her due to her father’s ethnicity. Her coach suggested adding the ‘O’ at the end.

From then onwards, the 21-year-old started winning various amateur titles, secured two LET events as an amateur, and began dominating the professional circuit. She has accumulated three titles on the LPGA Tour and four on the Ladies European Tour, but the best win of her career was not in either of those leagues.

Atthaya Thitikul shares two of her top achievements

The year Thitikul became the youngest player on the Ladies European Tour to win an event, she was also selected for Thailand’s national team for the 2017 Southeast Asian Games held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. There, she won gold in the individual women’s golf event and the mixed team event.

The next year, in 2018, Thitikul made it to another national team to represent Thailand at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. She was paired with fellow Thai amateur player, Vanchai Luangnitikul, and the two won a gold medal in the mixed team event, making their country proud. “Each competition is special to me but representing your home country and bringing home a gold medal is a different and unique kind of pride,” said the 3-time LPGA Tour winner. “So, if I had to rank some of my proudest accomplishments, the Sea Games and the Youth Olympics are definitely top of the list.” 

Thitikul has always been vocal about representing her country internationally. Although she was not yet a celebrity, she said, “I know what I’m doing makes my country proud and is getting more people interested in golf.” Hopefully, Thitikul will rake in more victories and inspire many like her in Thailand.