As a six-year-old, Atthaya "Jeeno" Thitikul faced the biggest decision of her young life -- pick either tennis or golf as the sport of her choice.
For golf's sake, she chose the right one.
Sixteen years on, the Thai has morphed into an LPGA Tour superstar, reinforcing her burgeoning stature in women's golf by successfully defending her crown at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship last weekend.
The bubbly world No.1 picked up a cool US$4 million (approx 129 million baht) as "shopping" money, rewrote the history books courtesy of her trademark quiet poise, unwavering spirit and workmanlike approach, and provided enough reasons for the LPGA hierarchy to realise there is a pot of gold waiting at the end of the rainbow which reaches the Far East.
It is quite frightening to think that Jeeno is still only 22, and with the world her oyster and a maiden major title next in her sight, there is so much to expect from this mega-talent that LPGA Tour commissioner Craig Kessler must be directing his PR executives to leverage her burgeoning popularity, as well as Japanese stars Miyu Yamashita, twin sisters Chisato and Akie Iwai, Korea's Kim Sei-Young and China's Yin Ruoning, who are important cogs to the tour's global ambitions.
Hailing from Ratchaburi, Jeeno speaks with such maturity that her one advice to other dreamy and aspiring golfers is for them to chart their own pathways, rather than emulate her glorious climb to the top of the mountain.
"Every person has his or her own path. I hear some amateur golfers say they want to be like Atthaya, but that isn't necessary. Nobody can be exactly like someone else. And if we set ourselves such an impossible goal, we will never enjoy the game," she said.
Finding joy in what she does, whether inside the ropes or outside of it, is paramount to what makes Jeeno tick. Follow her social media channels and fans will see a genuine, fun-loving Thai, who is just good at golf.
Unlike many greats in history, Jeeno did not inherit sporting genes from her family. Her father, though, was instrumental in introducing her to the sport after letting her watch videos of tennis and golf, and she picked the latter as it involved less running.
"My family does not play golf. When I was younger, aged six, my father told me to play sport and he offered tennis or golf, and I watched golf on TV and I liked it," said Jeeno, who is the second Thai after Ariya Jutanugarn to become world No.1.
Her rapid rise as an amateur was stunning. At 14, she won the Thailand Championship on the Ladies European Tour, becoming the youngest golfer in history then to lift a professional title. She won the same event again in the following year, and with other significant victories including the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship, she topped the Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking on two separate occasions to signal her growing promise.
New Zealand's Lydia Ko, once a teenage prodigy herself and now an LPGA Hall of Famer, hailed the Thai star, who is amongst those featured in the recent Time100 Next, a tribute to the world's most influential rising stars.
Ko wrote for the esteemed magazine: "Most professional golfers are really good at one thing. For some, it's their long game or iron shot, for others, it's putting or chipping. But for Jeeno Thitikul, it's everything. I see how hard she works. It feels like only a matter of time until she wins a major title. As a teen phenom turned top-ranked golfer, Jeeno is incredibly impressive all around. She motivates me to be a better player, and I feel lucky to be able to play alongside her."
Last Sunday's victory saw Jeeno lift her third LPGA win of the year, seventh of her career, the Rolex Player of the Year award for the second time in her career, and more importantly the Vare Trophy after recording the season's lowest scoring average of 68.681, besting Annika Sorenstam's long-standing 2002 scoring average of 68.696. In total, she accumulated an impressive 14 top-10s in 20 starts this season and earned $7.6 million (248 million baht) in prize winnings.
Nelly Korda, who was displaced by Jeeno as world No.1 in August, marvelled at her rival's dominance in 2025. "Yeah, it's quite amazing. Great talent, great player. It's fun to see her craft kind of up close as well. I mean, it's kind of crazy, right? To finally beat a record so far back in 2002 … For it to take until 2025, I mean, it's crazy. That just tells you that the greats don't come along too often," said the American, who holds 15 LPGA Tour victories.
For Jeeno, all she wants is to be herself.
"Whatever you had in your career doesn't define who you are and doesn't define who I am as Jeeno, too," she said. "My life will still be the same, I guess. I need to hit the ball the same. I need to putt and chip still. All the wins that I have are going, like anyone can take it from me. I think I have just been the same human being as you guys. I have to work. I have things to do. I had some happy moments; I had some sad moments. It's just a sum of describing a life."
Note: The writer formerly led the PR and marketing efforts for the PGA Tour and Asian Tour for over 20 years and now runs his own PR consulting firm in Malaysia.