Royal Lytham & St Annes spent Thursday asking players to choose between ambition and restraint. Jeeno Thitikul found room for both.
Thitikul opened the 50th AIG Women’s Open with a bogey-free, 7-under 64, establishing the lowest championship round ever recorded at Royal Lytham and taking a two-shot lead over Haeran Ryu and Shiho Kuwaki.
The number becomes more striking alongside what happened around her. The 144-player field averaged 73.369, more than two shots over par, and only 25 players broke par. Thitikul finished 9.37 shots better than the field average on a links course built to punish even small errors.
She made seven birdies, hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation and covered the front nine in 31. Her birdies at Nos. 4, 5 and 6 created the early momentum, but the two she added at Nos. 16 and 17 turned an excellent round into a historic one.
“When it’s your way, it’s really your way,” Thitikul said. “I knew I had a really good putter today, too.”
The official leaderboard confirmed Thitikul as the completed first-round leader at 7 under, followed by Kuwaki and Ryu at 5 under.
A 64 Built Around Control
Royal Lytham contains more than 170 bunkers, and its challenge is not simply avoiding all of them. That is nearly impossible. The real test is deciding which hazards can be challenged, which must be respected and how quickly to move on when the course wins a hole.
Thitikul managed those decisions without allowing caution to drain the scoring from her round.
The closing stretch provided the clearest evidence. Nos. 14 through 18 played a combined 1.118 shots over par for the field. Thitikul played them in 2 under, making pars on the two hardest holes of the day before birdieing Nos. 16 and 17.
That five-hole difference accounted for more than three shots against the field average. It was the separation between leading and merely belonging to Thursday’s crowded group of contenders.
Royal Lytham also carries personal history for Thitikul. She was 15 when she won the Smyth Salver as the leading amateur here in 2018. Eight years later, she returned as a nine-time LPGA Tour winner and the world’s second-ranked player, still searching for the major championship missing from an otherwise substantial résumé.
Her goal for the return was delivered with typical understatement.
“My strategy is beating my 15 years old score,” Thitikul said. “That’s it.”
She accomplished that before Friday even arrived.
Thitikul also understands the danger of allowing the larger objective to control every decision. She said she does not begin a major week expecting to win the trophy because the result depends on too many variables. Her focus is putting a red number on the board each day and continuing to beat the course in front of her.
That sounds simple until the course is Royal Lytham.
Round One, Reframed
Jeeno vs. Royal Lytham
A record score on a day when the course played more than two shots over par.
64
7 Under Par
31
Front Nine
16 of 18
Greens Hit
7
Birdies, No Bogeys
9.37
Shots Better Than Field Average
The benchmark: Thitikul’s 64 is the lowest AIG Women’s Open round recorded at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
Ryu’s Freedom Makes Her a Serious Threat
Thitikul owns the lead, but the most consequential round immediately behind her may belong to Ryu.
Ryu’s 66 included six birdies, one bogey, 15 greens in regulation and successful saves on both recorded sand-save opportunities. She made birdie at the last to join Kuwaki at 5 under.
Ryu entered the week chasing her third major championship of the season. Accomplishing it would make her only the fifth LPGA Tour player since 1950 to win three majors in one year. Her season-long greens-in-regulation rate moved to 80.44% after Thursday, a level no qualified LPGA Tour player has sustained for a full season.
The ball-striking explains the scoring. Her current mental state may explain why the possibility of another major does not appear to be tightening her game.
Ryu described herself as feeling “free” following her recent major success. She repeatedly returned to the same priorities Thursday: avoid the most damaging bunkers, accept the necessary layups and remain patient.
“I’m not focus for the win,” Ryu said. “Just enjoy my golf and no stressful too much.”
That is not indifference. It is a player no longer trying to force validation from every shot.
Kuwaki’s presence should not be minimized, either. The Japanese player produced the lowest major-championship round of her LPGA Tour career and matched Thitikul’s run of three consecutive birdies at Nos. 4 through 6. Kuwaki has won five times on the JLPGA Tour since turning professional in 2021. Her 66 was a breakthrough round at this level, but not the work of an untested player.
Celine Boutier and Yealimi Noh are another shot back after 67s, while Chanettee Wannasaen and Chizzy Iwai opened with 68s.
Two shots can disappear quickly in links golf. Thitikul created a lead, not insulation.
The Pursuit
Two shots separate history from the chase
1
Jeeno Thitikul
Bogey-free championship record at Royal Lytham
-7
T2
Haeran Ryu
Six birdies while pursuing a third major of 2026
-5
T2
Shiho Kuwaki
Lowest major-championship round of her LPGA Tour career
-5
Next Line
Celine Boutier and Yealimi Noh
Both at 4 under
Historical Range
Nine players tied at 2 under
Five shots behind the lead
Royal Lytham Offered More Than One Route Into Contention
The nine-player group at 2 under reveals how differently Royal Lytham can be played.
Charley Hull reached 69 despite hitting only nine greens in regulation, leaning on 27 putts and a series of recoveries. Lottie Woad arrived at the same score by hitting 15 greens but taking 32 putts. One round was built around survival after missed approaches. The other left several opportunities unconverted.
That distinction matters entering Friday. Hull has immediate room to improve through better approach play. Woad has room to move if a few more putts begin falling.
Amateur Paula Martin Sampedro also shot 69, matching Hull, Woad, Ashleigh Buhai, Lauren Coughlin, Diksha Dagar, Shannon Tan, Mao Saigo and Rio Takeda. Martin Sampedro won the Smyth Salver in 2025 and made clear that returning simply to collect another amateur prize is not the full ambition.
“I’m just happy to be here and playing against the pros,” Martin Sampedro said, before adding that she was focused “more so [on] being in contention.”
That entire group sits five behind Thitikul, a meaningful historical boundary. Each of the past 14 AIG Women’s Open champions was within five shots of the lead following the opening round.
Several prominent players will spend Friday trying to move toward that range. Nelly Korda opened with a 73 and sits eight shots back. Rose Zhang shot 74, while Lilia Vu, Minjee Lee and Jin Young Ko each posted 75. None is eliminated, but Royal Lytham has already narrowed the margin for another loose stretch.
Thitikul said the trophy remains outside her control. Royal Lytham is supposed to be, too.
For one round, neither looked that way.
The Decisive Stretch
Where Thitikul turned a lead into separation
3.12 Shots
Better Than Field, Nos. 14-18
Field Average, Nos. 14-18
+1.12
A punishing finish after the turn
Thitikul, Nos. 14-18
-2
Pars on the hardest two, then consecutive birdies
No. 14
PAR
Hardest hole
No. 15
PAR
Second hardest
No. 16
BIRDIE
No. 17
BIRDIE
No. 18
PAR
Thitikul did not merely protect her score through Royal Lytham’s hardest section. She gained ground after the course had begun taking it from nearly everyone else.
PGA of America Golf Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer who serves as Athlon Sports Senior Golf Writer. Read his recent “The Starter” on R.org, where he is their Lead Golf Writer. To stay updated on all of his latest work, sign up for his newsletter or visit his MuckRack Profile.
