Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul celebrated her birthday in style on Friday at the Honda LPGA Thailand.

The now 23-year-old carded a 9-under 63 in the second round of her national open at Siam Country Club to move from a tie for sixth into solo second with 36 holes remaining. Thitikul got her party started fairly early on the front nine, rattling off three straight birdies on the par-4 third, par-3 fourth and par-4 fifth holes to move to 8-under total.

An eagle on the par-5 seventh hole then bumped Thitikul up the leaderboard to 10-under, and she immediately got to 11-under with a birdie on the next. Ultimately turning in 30, the seven-time LPGA Tour winner landed two more blows with a pair of back-to-back birdies on 10 and 11, now at 13-under overall with seven holes to play.

Thitikul cooled off quite a bit coming down the stretch, making six pars before closing out round two with a birdie on the par-5 18th hole to post her first round of 63 or better since day two of the 2025 CME Group Tour Championship, an event that saw her successfully defend her title and take home another $4 million winner’s check.

“Feels great,” said Thitikul after day two in Thailand. “It feels great having really good momentum from yesterday and carry on to today. And then like I said yesterday, it's just better, more than I expected.”

Thitikul hasn’t made a bogey over the first 36 holes of the Honda LPGA Thailand, a pretty impressive mistake-free stretch of golf at what is traditionally a low-scoring Pattaya Old Course. In her five seasons as an LPGA Tour member, the Thailand native’s longest bogey-free streak came in 2024, a span that didn’t see her bogey a total of 64 holes across rounds at both the Buick LPGA Shanghai and BMW Ladies Championship.

And while no golf course on the LPGA Tour is ever considered easy, Thitikul feels like it’s been pretty simple to manage her way around the Old Course so far this week, having leaned on her familiarity with the property to help her eliminate some bogey-causing mistakes.

“I think we play here a lot, so we know where to miss, where not to go,” Thitikul said. “I think for the past two days I have been in a good position where I just want my ball to be. So, if we can put the ball where it's kind of safe, not too risky, should not be a big problem with this golf course.”

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Thitikul was sure to have an incredible time celebrating her 23rd birthday on Friday, no matter what she shot during the second round in her home country. As they typically do when Feb. 20 falls during the Honda LPGA Thailand, the tournament gave the young superstar a cake, and according to her social media channels, Thitikul’s team and one of her closest friends, Pajaree Anannarukarn, took Jeeno to dinner to mark the occasion, showering her with even more cake to eat.

But it was something that happened on the golf course that Thitikul will always remember about her 23rd birthday, as every time she rolled in a birdie or eagle putt, the crowds not only erupted into raucous applause – they also began to sing.

“They're going to sing just only birdie putts. Just only birdie drops and then they will sing it,” Thitikul said with a grin in her post-round interview. “Obviously, nice to have a lot of birdies today, which I hear a lot of happy birthday, the most time in my life. But obviously, it's just really good memories that I have created with them on my birthday on the golf course again.”

Thitikul is currently three strokes behind 36-hole leader Somi Lee, who shot a Friday 61 to vault into the first position on the leaderboard. But considering how many birdies the Pattaya Old Course tends to give up during this week every season, a three-shot margin is a chump-change gap for Thitikul to close over the next two days of the Honda LPGA Thailand in pursuit of her eighth career victory, what would be both a perfect conclusion to her birthday week and an excellent kickoff to her Jordan Year.

Rolex Rankings No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul Gifts Herself Second-Round 63 for Birthday in Thailand

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