NAPLES, Fla. — Winning Dow Championship Team Jin & Ronic got the band back together on day three of the CME Group Tour Championship.

Best friends Jeeno Thitikul and Ruoning Yin, who took home the Dow Championship title together back in June, were paired alongside each other in the third round of the season-ending tournament at Tiburón Golf Club. And after the conclusion of 54 holes, the pair of 2022 rookies both have a shot at winning in Naples, Fla., and taking home the historic $4 million first-place check that will be awarded on Sunday.

Thitikul blitzed the field on Moving Day at the CME Group Tour Championship, carding a bogey-free 9-under 63 that saw her make seven birdies, three of which came consecutively on holes 10, 11 and 12, and an eagle on the par-5 17th hole before holing a lengthy birdie putt on the last to post her first round of 63 or better since the 2023 Maybank Championship.

“I think I hit it better than the first day. Also, yesterday, as well,” said Thitikul, whose 63 is the lowest round of the week in Naples, Fla. “I trying to make it the lowest score that I can. Today, it's my caddie's birthday, and definitely, he's going to say, ‘Oh, because (it’s) my birthday (that’s) why you shoot a really good score. Just a present, and hopefully, I can get a big check for him (Sunday).”

Yin did her best to keep pace with the Thailand native, recording a 6-under 66 that also saw her go bogey-free and card six birdies throughout the third round, two sets of which came back-to-back on holes 11, 12, 17 and 18. She will begin the final round three shots behind Thitikul and Angel Yin, who share the lead at 15-under, and while she was doing her best to climb the leaderboard on Moving Day, the People’s Republic of China native was just enjoying the walk alongside her best friend on Saturday at Tiburón Golf Club.

“Today, my approach shot was really good, and I gave myself a lot of chances. I make some putts as well,” said Yin after the third round. “Just another fun day with Jeeno. She's crushing it. The eagle on 17, I told her, after the putt, I was like, I feel like you can make it. She was like, why not? I was like, okay. It's really fun playing with her. She definitely motivates me as well.”

Atthaya Thitikul Ruoning Yin

The two young talents both joined the LPGA Tour in 2022, and over the last three seasons, Thitikul and Yin have established themselves as two of the game’s strongest players. Thitikul won two LPGA Tour titles as a rookie, capturing the JTBC Classic presented by Barbasol and the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G in her debut season, also ascending to Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 for the first time in her career that same year.

Yin didn’t win immediately on the LPGA Tour, waiting until her second season to become a Rolex First-Time Winner at what is now known as the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship. She then became the second Chinese LPGA Tour member to win a major championship when she took home the 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship title at Baltusrol Golf Club’s Lower Course last year, a historic victory at a storied venue that set Yin up to reach Rolex Rankings No. 1 in September 2023.

Thitikul and Yin have each had strong 2024 seasons, even though both have dealt with injuries this year. Thitikul didn’t play in her first tournament until The Chevron Championship in April because of a thumb injury, but despite the late start, she has won once and earned 10 additional top-10 finishes, six of which have come consecutively in her last six starts.

For a second straight year, Yin has picked up multiple victories, capturing one in June alongside Thitikul at the Dow Championship and then winning twice in three starts during the Tour’s fall Asian swing at the Buick LPGA Shanghai in her home country and the Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Yin has three other top-10 finishes on her 2024 resume, most notably a tie for second that came at the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews.

But for all of their impressive accomplishments over the last three years, Thitikul and Yin are as humble as ever and still act like a pair of women might in their early 20s – joyful, excited and full of life, never missing an opportunity to crack a smile or joke around with one another or with anyone else who might be in earshot.

And they value their friendship more than anything, knowing just how critical it is to have found someone who understands what life is like as a professional athlete and how hard it can be, even more so when you’re thousands of miles from your family and homeland.

“Being on Tour is a tough life, and I think having (Ruoning) by my side as a friend, player, as someone who you can talk to everything through your life during the year just means a lot,” said Thitikul. “When I have a bad day, she's still there, and when she have a bad day or struggling with anything, I'm still there for her as well. We compete on the course, but I just talk with Ronni as well. We not really carry all the things that happen on the course outside to our friendship.

“So that is really nice that our chemistry, it's really suits each other. That's why it's turn out to be really fun.”

Jeeno Thitikul and Ruoning Yin

Thitikul and Yin both own homes in Dallas, Texas, and that adds a unique level to their friendship as well, one that has made their shared bond even stronger. “Off the course, we both live in Dallas and (Jeeno) sometimes she just comes to my house for lunch after her practice,” said Yin. “I told her just come whenever you want, and she is like, I know. It's really good to have her company, and especially on the Tour. It's really cool to have a friend I can hang out with no matter it's on the course or off the course.”

Sunday at the CME Group Tour Championship will see Thitikul and Yin once again playing alongside each other in the final group at Tiburón Golf Club as both vie for that historic $4 million winner’s check and the title of Race to the CME Globe champion in Naples, Fla.

But even with all of the accolades that are on the line, the best friends are just looking forward to the final-round walk they will get to share as they wrap up their third seasons on the LPGA Tour, knowing that no matter what happens, no matter who wins or loses, they will still have a friend in each other.

And for Jeeno and Ruoning, that’s really all that matters.

Winning Dow Championship Team Jin & Ronic Both In Contention for CME Group Tour Championship Title

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