The LPGA Tour is in the People’s Republic of China for a second time this season, as some of the world’s top professional athletes descend upon Qizhong Garden Golf Club for the fifth edition of the Buick LPGA Shanghai. The field features several players who are highly ranked in both the Race to the CME Globe and the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, as well as three past champions of the Buick LPGA Shanghai, one of whom, Danielle Kang, is the only multiple winner in the event’s young history.

Here are three athletes who fans might want to keep an eye on as they work to put themselves atop the heap come the conclusion of this week’s tournament in Shanghai.

Jeeno Thitikul

The Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul is the definitive favorite in the field this week at the Buick LPGA Shanghai. The Thailand native tied for fifth in her tournament debut in 2024, a performance she is primed to improve upon in 2025, considering how strong her season has been thus far.

In her 17 starts ahead of her Shanghai tee time, Thitikul had secured her fifth career victory in May at the Mizuho Americas Open and tallied 10 additional top-10 results, eight of which are top-five showings and two of which are solo seconds that she recorded consecutively at the FM Championship and the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G.

Statistically, according to KPMG Performance Insights, Thitikul is at the top of the board in many key metrics in 2025, leading the LPGA in strokes gained total (+2.88), scoring average (69.16), birdie or better percentage (26.41 percent), birdie or better average per round (4.75) and bogey avoidance (11.31 percent), also doing so in several other categories. The five-time LPGA Tour winner is additionally ranked highly in strokes gained tee to green (4, +1.61), strokes gained putting (5, +1.04) and strokes gained approach (7, +0.91).

Also looking at KPMG Performance Insights data, since joining the organization in 2022, Thitikul has racked up 52 top-10 results in her four seasons as an LPGA Tour member, the most of any player in that time frame and 16 more than her closest competitor, Nelly Korda, in that same metric.

Sei Young Kim

It feels like Republic of Korea native Sei Young Kim is more than due to capture her long-awaited 13th LPGA Tour title, considering how well she has played across the 2025 season. In 17 starts this year, the major champion has made 13 cuts and collected seven top-10 results, the best of which are a pair of solo thirds that came at the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer and the FM Championship.

The 32-year-old is teeing it up for a fifth time at Qizhong Garden Golf Club, and in her four previous appearances, she has tallied three top-six finishes, two of which are ties for second that came in 2018 and 2024, and one of which is a solo sixth that Kim earned in 2019.

According to KPMG Performance Insights data, the 12-time LPGA Tour winner is one of only three athletes to be ranked inside the top 50 in the four major strokes gained categories at the moment, alongside Charley Hull and Jeeno Thitikul. Ahead of the Buick LPGA Shanghai, she was inside the top 20 of strokes gained around the green (17, +0.30), strokes gained total (18, +1.28) and strokes gained tee to green (18, +1.04). Kim was also tied for first with Nelly Korda in par-5 scoring average (4.56) and tied for third in putts per green in regulation (1.74).

Arpichaya Yubol

Thailand’s Arpichaya Yubol is a dark horse to keep an eye on at the Buick LPGA Shanghai. She is competing for a third time at Qizhong Garden Golf Club, having tied for 21st in her tournament debut in 2023 and tied for ninth last season in the People’s Republic of China after posting a four-day total of 13-under.

This is the 23-year-old’s 21st tournament of the season, and Yubol had made the cut in 12 events before competing this week, earning three top-25 finishes at the MEXICO Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba (T9), the Dow Championship (T14) and The Standard Portland Classic (T21).

She entered the Buick LPGA Shanghai at 96th in the season-long Race to the CME Globe and needs a strong push over the final few events of the year to maintain her position inside the top 100 and hang onto full status for the 2026 LPGA Tour season, something that just might happen at the Buick LPGA Shanghai, particularly seeing how well Yubol has fared in this tournament in the past.

Players to Watch: 2025 Buick LPGA Shanghai

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