JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Four-time LPGA Tour winner Jeeno Thitikul is at it again at the Mizuho Americas Open, firing a flawless 8-under 64 in the first round at Liberty National Golf Club to hold an early two-stroke lead in Jersey City, N.J.

The Thailand native started with three consecutive pars before picking up a pair of back-to-back birdies on holes four and five to move to 2-under, making another birdie on the par-5 8th hole to turn in 33. Thitikul then made two more birdies on the par-5 10th and par-3 11th holes to climb to 5-under, grabbing another on the par-5 13th hole to move to 6-under.

The 22-year-old parred her next three holes to hold steady at 6-under for the day and ultimately closed out round one with two more birdies on the par-4 17th and 18th holes to finish with an 8-under 64, tying her second-lowest first-round score on the LPGA Tour, which she first carded at the 2021 Honda LPGA Thailand as a non-member. She hasn’t started an LPGA Tour event with a round of 64 or better since the 2022 BMW Ladies Championship and will now have plenty of momentum on which she can ride heading into the next 54 holes in her eighth tournament of the season.

“I think my putter working well, better than Chevron week,” Thitikul said with a laugh. “I’ve been sucking with the putter on the Chevron week. But it's not just me but everyone. I think the green was so tough that week. But here, hit it good, too, and also making the putts. Also, got a lucky draw in the morning because it's not really windy (in) the morning.”

Thitikul’s performance at The Chevron Championship has been the worst of her 2025 season so far and her highest finish since she missed the cut at The Amundi Evian Championship in 2024, but the current Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 2 still managed to tie for 24th, a result that many athletes would happily take in any major tournament on the LPGA Tour schedule.

However, she was on quite the tear before the year’s first major championship, racking up 13 straight T12 or better results from August 2024 to April 2025, a slate of finishes that included a victory at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, which saw Thitikul take home a $4 million first-place check, the largest in the women’s game.

By her own admission, her mindset on the greens has seemingly kept Thitikul from collecting a fifth career LPGA Tour title this year, and she credits a mental shift she made while taking a week off between The Chevron Championship and the Mizuho Americas Open as a big reason for both her Thursday 64 and her comfortability on the greens at Liberty National Golf Club.

“I think the first couple of days I've been back home, and I putt a lot, a ton,” Thitikul said after having 26 putts on day one in the Garden State. “I feel good when I see it drop, but I feel so bad when I see it miss. When I finished like Tuesday, Wednesday, I just got back home and sit tight, and I was like no, you can't be like this. Even if it's in or it's not, it has to be the same feelings and same emotions. If not, your emotion is going to be like a rollercoaster for sure.

“I just going to putt less and think less. That's pretty much what I want to do because mental-wise pretty important to see all putts, and I don't want to be so tight and tense.”

After morning play concluded on day one, Thitikul was leading by two strokes over Celine Boutier and Hye-Jin Choi, who both carded 66s to kick off their weeks in New Jersey. And considering both her fast start and the fact that she has finished in the top 10 in her previous two appearances at the Mizuho Americas Open, tying for 10th in 2023 and tying for seventh in 2024, Thitikul seems primed to find the winner’s circle in this tournament sooner rather than later.

But Thitikul is doing her best to mitigate those expectations as wet, windy conditions threaten Liberty National on Friday, rain that will make an already difficult venue that much harder if the breeze off the Hudson River really starts to blow.

“I think it's kind of play(ing) a little easier than last year, but it's going to play longer anyway because it's softer,” Thitikul said. “The green, it's kind of easier, softer. But just got lucky in the morning. Not much wind so we can be aggressive at the pin for the front nine. We'll see. It's going to be a lot of rain tomorrow.”

Jeeno Thitikul Fires 64 at Liberty National Golf Club on Day One of Mizuho Americas Open

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