Injured Atthaya Thitikul aims for return to LPGA in late March

Patty Tavatanakit became the second Thai player to win the Honda LPGA Thailand on Sunday. With 11 Thai players in the field, five finished in the top 18 in Chonburi.

One Thai name, however, was noticeably absent last week: Atthaya Thitikul. The two-time LPGA winner who won the Vare Trophy last season for lowest scoring average has yet to tee it up in 2024.

Thitikul’s agent told Golfweek that she’s experiencing pain in the tendon of her left thumb upon impact. A doctor has advised Thitikul, 21, to rest six to eight weeks. The 2022 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year hopes to return to action in late March at the Ford Championship in Gilbert, Arizona.

Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand celebrates with the Vare trophy after the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on November 19, 2023, in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

Currently No. 10 in the Rolex Rankings and No. 3 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, Thitikul closed the 2023 LPGA season with four top-4 finishes in her last five starts.

Thitikul, known as “Jeeno,” turned professional in January 2020 and won five times on the Thai LPGA while travel was limited due to the global pandemic. She’d already won twice on the LET in Thailand as an amateur.

Thitikul first competed in the Honda LPGA Thailand three days after her 14th birthday and finished 37th. She finished second to Ariya Jutanugarn in 2021 before becoming a member of the LPGA. Last year she placed third in the event, won by eventual No. 1 Lilia Vu.