It was really close for a really long time Sunday at the LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei for Ina Yoon – but in the end one of the game’s best players was just too much.
Jeeno Thitikul topped Yoon by three shots to win for her fourth time this season after shooting a 4-under 68 and staging a late rally. But Yoon was right there all day, even sharing the lead with Thitikul at one point. Yoon settled for her second runner-up finish of the season, after recording the same result at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June.
Yoon had an idyllic start on Sunday, going 4 under for her first five holes. She gave one back with a bogey on the par-4 8th before making another birdie on the par-3 9th and par-4 10th.
She couldn’t hold on through the back nine, however, making bogeys on Nos. 14 and 17, which eventually was her undoing. Thitikul made an ill-timed double bogey on No. 16 to open the door ever-so-slightly for Yoon, but Thitikul showed why she is one of the LPGA Tour’s brightest superstars, making birdie on Nos. 17 and 18 to close out her week.
“It’s kind of really like good battle with Ina. She (played) incredible on the front nine. She always going for the pins and then drop every putts,” Thitikul said.
Yoon appreciated the battle as well.
“It was super fun today,” Yoon said. “Jeeno played great, and my first nine holes was putting-wise awesome. Yeah, I think I learn a lot about golf from her. Yeah, it was super nice. She’s nice player and she’s nice person at the same time. Yeah, really congratulations for her. I’m so proud.”
Yoon has had a very solid 2026 campaign on the LPGA Tour and keeps collecting excellent results. Her first top-10 of the year came at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass before she notched back-to-back top-5s at both the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by PlastPro and the Chevron Championship, the first major of the year. She had back-to-back top-10s at the DOW Championship and the KPMG Women’s PGA and although she’s missed two of her last three cuts, she was very solid this week in Hawaii – hitting nearly 80 percent of her greens and 75 per cent of her fairways. She also led the field in birdies this week.
“I think I put a lot of work into my putting since last year, and I think all the hard work showed up this tournament,” Yoon said. “I’m pretty proud of myself, too. Yeah, overall putting was great. I (had) many birdie chances but made many birdie (putts).”
With her second runner-up finish on the season, Yoon said she has “learned a lot” from 2025 into 2026. Although she said she “really wanted to play well,” like everyone on Tour, she decided to drop down her expectations on herself. She keeps things easy every week and said she feels much better this season any time she tees it up versus a year ago.
“I think that helped a lot,” she explained.
There are just a handful of tournaments left before the end of this particular LPGA Tour season and just a few opportunities left to try to finally take a tournament across the finish line. But Yoon said her approach to things will remain the same.
“Every tournament, it’s really important to me,” Yoon said. “Same for me… and I prepare the same (for) every tournament.
“Just want to finish well, finish strong until (the CME Group Tour Championship) and just put a lot of work into it.”
Things have been working well so far in 2026 for Yoon, it’s likely just a matter of time before she takes the next big step.
