Nelly Korda has won two tournaments in a row, and Jeeno Thitikul answered with a win of her own.

After her win at the Mizuho Americas Open on Sunday, Thitikul spoke about competing on the biggest stage with one of her closest rivals. Thitikul successfully defended her Mizuho Americas Open title on May 10. The rivalry with Korda, who won the previous two events, is now the hottest storyline.

Thitikul addressed it directly at the post-round press conference.

"Just one thing that you can only do is just focus on yourself and keep getting better and better," Thitikul said. "World ranking or top players doesn't really define what I'm doing. I'm just trying to do my best out there, trying to be as consistent as I can."

She wasn't done. "I knew that I was going to play with her for a long, long time, and then we were going to have a battle out there on the course for a long, long time for sure," Thitikul said.

"Golf is just golf. Who wins, who loses, outside of the golf, we are best friends."

Jeeno Thitikul and Nelly Korda are very close friends away from the golf course. After Sunday’s win, Korda was the first player to spray champagne on Thitikul on the 18th green. It was a special moment that showed they are strong competitors and also true friends.

Jeeno Thitikul also spoke about missing the cut at the first major of the season, just two weeks earlier. She shared how difficult that was for her.

"I was disappointed. I was upset to not be able to make the weekend on the first major," she said.

Back-to-back missed cut to back-to-back title defense in two weeks. The win came on one of the toughest putting greens of the season.

How Jeeno Thitikul mastered Mountain Ridge's notoriously brutal greens

The greens at Mountain Ridge Country Club were a big topic all week, and Jeeno Thitikul noticed the challenge early during her practice round.

"Every pin that my caddie put the plastic hole on, it's like it's unplayable," she said. "It's all unplayable from every line, every miss from the green."

Her plan was simple: never miss on the high side, and always respect how fast the greens were above the hole. It worked. While other players struggled, Jeeno Thitikul found a way to handle the greens in every round.

The birdie on the 18th hole that secured the win came from an aggressive shot and a bit of good luck with the ball’s lie.

"It was too aggressive," she laughed. "I thought it was so hard, but luckily the lie was good, and that's why it went in."

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Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason