Bubble tea.

Turns out, when you're Jeeno Thitikul and you're low on energy – despite a spectacular run of golf to start 2025 – you grab a bubble tea and get to work. Or a fruit tea, in a pinch.

Thitikul, who already won on the LET earlier this season and notched a third-place result at the Honda LPGA Thailand in her LPGA Tour opener in February, shot a 6-under 66 Saturday at the HSBC Women's World Championship and is in third heading into Sunday's finale – just three back of Lydia Ko's lead.

Charley Hull is in second at 9 under, one back of Ko.

One day after Thitikul had her rounds-under-par streak on the LPGA Tour snapped at 32 (two back of Jin Young Ko's record 34), she got back to work at Sentosa Golf Club. Thitikul made three birdies in her first five holes and added four more birdies on the back nine, including two of her final three holes to post 6-under 66. Her 66 was the low round of the day and tied for the week's low round. It helped Thitikul to move up 13 spots on the leaderboard.

Thitikul said she changed drivers for Saturday's round after hitting only eight of 14 fairways on Friday. She hit 12 in the third round – an impressive turnaround. She also struggled on the greens in the second round, needing 34 putts. Saturday was a completely different story, as she took just 27 swipes in Singapore.

Her ball striking has been world-class throughout the week, however, as she's tied for first amongst the field in greens in regulation through 54 holes.

Thitikul admitted she doesn't change equipment very often, but desperate times call for desperate measures. She said the problem was with the speed she was generating - or lack thereof - and missing fairways was proving too costly with Sentosa playing firm and fast this year.

"I was just trying to keep my ball in the fairway, and also, I had a lot of chance to make a birdie. Miss some, make some. I thought the greens were so hard to make if you see on the leaderboard three days, not even double digit yet, which is I think the green is kind of hard to putt," Thitikul said.

"This week, it's just like every putt that I have; it's always double-break. It's like, left and right, right and left. That's why it's hard to judge."

Equipment aside, Thitikul admitted her energy level is just a one out of 10. Between the Singapore heat and the run of success she's been on – and the extra demands that come along with that – but she's doing her best to dig deep to try to make another run at an LPGA Tour title.

This is the tenth time in the past year Thitikul has been within five shots of the lead entering the final round.

Thitikul won twice last season including the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. But she also had an incredible run of consistency in 2024, notching 12 top-10s in just 17 starts including seven in a row to close out the year. She also added a runner-up at the Grant Thornton Invitational for good measure.

She is now looking to continue her streak of top-10s that began last year. If Thitikul is able to remain inside the top 10, it'll mark her ninth consecutive such finish.

Given where her energy was at, Thitikul admitted she didn't think she'd have a chance to contend, especially after where she was on the leaderboard after her second round ("I didn't hit it good, and I can't putt it yesterday," she explained).

But after a sizzling Saturday effort, she is right there with another chance for an LPGA Tour title.

"It feels good," Thitikul said. "I thought I'm not going to be on top of the leaderboard that much this week. But like saw myself in, like, contention, which is more than I expected."

With one round remaining, it's time for another tea.

Jeeno Thitikul Off to a Hot Start in 2025 and in Contention After 54 Holes

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