Miranda Wang held off world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul at the FM Championship to become the 24th different winner on the LPGA in 2025. The LPGA’s remarkable depth this season is made possible in large part by a stellar rookie class. Wang became the seventh rookie to win this year, which ties a record for the most rookie winners since 1980. The 2009 season also saw seven different rookies triumph.
Wang held a three-shot lead going into the final round at TPC Boston and maintained at least a share of it for most of the day, until she made bogey on the 15th hole to drop one shot behind Thitikul.
After missing a good look for birdie on the par-3 16th, Wang struck a beautiful approach on the 17th and converted the birdie putt to regain a one-shot lead going into the last after Thitikul made a sloppy bogey on the penultimate hole.
“That is gutsy,” gushed Golf Channel analyst Morgan Pressel.
A two-putt par on the 72nd hole gave Wang her first LPGA title, and good friend Rose Zhang, who played with her in the final group, was among those spraying champagne.
“Honestly, on the back nine of my first round I started hitting really good shots,” said Wang, referring to the 29 she posted on Thursday. “The shots and putts were going so well for me I feel like this could be my week, and I just worked really hard and didn’t give up on that.”
Wang, 26, closed with a 2-under 70 to finish at 20 under for the tournament, one shot ahead of Thitikul, who shot 67. Sei Young Kim finished solo third, three shots back, while Andrea Lee finished fourth. South Korea’s Jin Hee Im posted the day’s low round, a tournament record-tying 10-under 62 to take a share of fifth with Rose Zhang.
Thitikul said she had no idea what other people were doing down the stretch.
“Feeling pretty good,” said Thitikul. “…I feel really confident with my irons right now; also my putting.
“Yeah, it’s kind of boost my confident finishing second here.”
“I mean, I do look at my stat … final round wasn’t that good as the first couple round,” she said of her scoring averages, “but I just prove to myself that today, I can go low on the final round as well.”
Wang, who made $615,000, helped Duke win the 2019 NCAA Championship and competed for three years on the Epson Tour. She was the 2022 WAPT Player of the Year.
Earlier in the week, Wang noted that TPC Boston felt a bit like home in Beijing, with similar weather, trees and grass.
“Winning LPGA has been my dream since actually since Day 1 of my golf,” said Wang, “because I started playing golf when I was 8 years old. I was watching LPGA tournament on TV.”
The Golf Channel interviewed longtime Duke coach Dan Brooke during the broadcast, and he said Wang’s free swing and positive attitude is what first attracted him to recruit her. Since graduating from college, Brooks said Wang has told him that she loves golf more now than ever, which, given that she spent time toiling on developmental circuits before making her way to the LPGA, must mean, he said, that she’s made for the game.
“She was good in college, but I don’t think that was her moment,” he said. “This is her moment now.”
Wang becomes the third player from China to win on the LPGA, joining Shanshan Feng and Ruoning Yin. She’s the fourth Duke player to win, following in the footsteps of Celine Boutier, Brittany Lang and Leona Maguire.
“I’m very grateful beyond words,” said Wang. “I hope this is the first of many and I’ll keep working hard.”
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