Golf Lessons: 3 Tips From Miranda Wang's First LPGA Victory

Nobody saw this coming — until it happened.

Miranda Wang, all of 26 years old from China, just won the FM Championship at 20-under-par, beating World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul by a single shot & becoming the seventh first-year player to win in 2025... tying a record that dates back to 1980.

Her final week numbers tell the story: 44 of 56 fairways hit, 55 of 72 greens in regulation, a modest 254-yard driving average and only 107 total putts across four rounds.

Nothing flashy. Everything working.

But here's what makes Wang's win special (and what golfers can learn): she never tried to be anyone else. While others might have crumbled under the pressure of chasing the world's top player, Wang stuck to her methodical approach: Fairways. Greens. Smart putts.

Let's break it down.

Wang's 79% fairway accuracy for the week tells you everything. She never tried to bomb drives past Thitikul or manufacture shots that weren't there. That 254-yard average? She played within herself throughout — the cardinal rule when things are going right.

Too many golfers get hot and decide they need to play "better." Wrong move. You start tinkering with mechanics that were just fine yesterday. Wang's consistent approach suggests she understood this perfectly. Don't fix what isn't broken, even when you're trying to beat the world's best.

Wang found 76% of greens in regulation while staying perfect in crucial moments. She picked her spots instead of forcing shots that weren't available. That's the balance — maintaining the confidence that creates great play without the recklessness that derails it.

Attack when the situation warrants it. Respect the course otherwise. Her fairway accuracy shows discipline in choosing when to be aggressive versus when to play smart, even with Thitikul breathing down her neck.

Here's something to practice: Set up five targets at different distances and difficulties. Before each shot, take three deep breaths and visualize the target. Execute your regular routine. After each shot — doesn't matter if it's good or bad — immediately say "next shot" and move on.

No analysis. No celebration. No frustration.

This trains the forward-focused mindset that characterizes sustained excellence. You stop fixating on individual results and maintain the process-oriented thinking that allows hot streaks to continue, even when beating the world's best player.

You know those rounds where you can't miss? I'm sure you've at least a few. Where every green read breaks exactly how you saw it, every drive finds the short grass, every approach shot releases perfectly? Most players ride it for nine holes, maybe eighteen if they're lucky.

Then they start thinking too much about why it's working. Wang just kept playing golf.

That's the whole thing right there. She didn't reinvent herself when the putts started falling. Didn't suddenly decide she needed to bomb it past everyone else off the tee. She trusted that whatever had gotten her to Saturday morning would work just as well on Sunday morning.

Lightning in a bottle? Sure, if you want to call it that. But Wang had her hands wrapped pretty tight around that particular bottle.