Pajaree Anannarukarn and Nelly Korda started Sunday tied for second at 16-under par. But the former world no. 1 looked totally cold on the front nine. She couldn’t find a single birdie and even swallowed a bogey dropping at 15-under, barely holding a lead over the chasing Gaby Lopez. The dream of a win seemed dead in Florida, but then came the 11th hole, and everything changed in a moment.

Korda stood in the fairway bunker, staring down 136 yards to the pin, and struck the ball perfectly into the cup. But the real show wasn’t the shot. It was her caddie. Jason McDede went absolutely berserk and screamed so loud that he actually terrified the broadcast crew standing nearby.

“Yeah, hit my driver a little out right. Honestly, it wasn’t a bad place to miss it out there. I had 136 yards, which was a perfect 9-iron, and I hit it — like I hit it really pure, which is also really nice when you hole out, when it all matches up. And I’ve never heard Jason yell that loud. Even the cameraman he was like, ‘Dude, I got scared,'” Korda shared after finishing in third position at the CME Group Championship tour. “It was nice to see that go in. In the past year I’ve been lipping out, so for it to be the last round of the year, obviously last round of the season, it felt good to see that go in.”

Still, that eagle provided a rare smile during a tough, winless season for the superstar. Remember, Korda dominated 2024 with seven incredible victories on the LPGA Tour, but 2025 painted a completely different picture for the American icon. She went from lifting trophies to searching for answers in her swing.

Talking about the winless season, Korda said, “A grind. Yeah, just there was — I feel like there was a lot of ups and downs, and it made me grow a lot mentally, and I would say I’m just also very grateful for it because, you know, success is never linear…I would just say expectations, listening to outside noises, really just sticking to what I know best, and that’s to keep everything simple.”

Korda found peace with her game,

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But someone else found history on the same course

Jeeno Thitikul rewrites history, winning the event and a $4 million check for the second straight year. Thitikul absolutely owned the Tiburón Golf Club, finishing at 26-under par, even better than his last season’s 22-under par record. And this win secured her sweep of the season’s major awards. She claimed the Rolex Player of the Year award and the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average of  68.681, breaking the all-time LPGA record of 68.897 set by Annika Sorenstam in 2002.

And don’t forget the incredible story of the runner-up, Pajaree Anannarukarn. She barely squeezed into the tournament as the 60th and final qualifier, but a final-round 66 pushed her to 22-under par for second place. Holding off the world number two (Korda) and finishing second in the season’s richest event marked a career-defining week for the Thai star.

And the top three, the tournament carried massive stakes for the entire field. The end of 2025 reshuffled the entire LPGA deck. New stars like Melanie Green and Gina Kim earned their tour cards. Japanese sensation Miyu Yamashita also secured her spot for next year. But Veterans like Bronte Law and major winner Sophia Popov lost their full status and missed the top 100 cutoff.

And as the tour heads into 2026, the question remains: Can anyone challenge the dominance of Jeeno Thitikul? It is the exact question we have asked about Korda at the end of the last season.