LYTHAM ST ANNES, England — World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul has got off to the perfect start at the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes with a bogey-free round of 64.The 23-year-old from Thailand had seven birdies on Thursday to claim a two-shot lead going into the second round on the west Lancashire coast as she seeks what would be a first-ever major win.After emerging as a 14-year-old amateur who made history by becoming the youngest player to win a professional tournament with her victory at the Thailand Championship on the Ladies European Tour, Thitikul has long been tipped to become a major champion, but that crown has eluded her.She has had to settle for six top-10 finishes at majors and came agonisingly close to winning the Amundi Evian Championship in 2025, losing in a playoff to Grace Kim.Thitikul’s 7-under-par round here is a strong start and puts her ahead of two-time major winner Haeran Ryu and Japanese golfer Shiho Kuwaki.“When I always step up in the major week, I’m not really expecting to like win-win it, win like a trophy, because like it’s just really out of my control,” Thitikul said. “What I can control is if I am beating the course every day, I should have a really good chance to be on the leaderboard. If you can put a red number on your scorecard every day, which means you beat the course — and the golf course in a major week isn’t that easy to be beating.”