Quick Facts
Biography
Ayaka Furue (古江 彩佳, Furue Ayaka) (born 27 May 2000) is a Japanese professional golfer. After playing on the LPGA of Japan Tour where she has eight wins, she currently plays on the LPGA Tour. She won her first LPGA Tour championship on 31 July 2022, at the Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open. She won her first major at the 2024 Evian Championship.
Early life and amateur career
Furue was born in Kobe and started playing golf at the age of 3, coached by her father. She has also been a swimmer since the age of four in parallel with golf.
Furue won the Kansai Elementary School Golf Championship in 2012, and the Kansai Junior High School Golf Championship in 2014 and 2015, and while attending Kobe Municipal Nagata Junior High School she won the National Junior High School Golf Championship in 2015 and the Kansai High School Golf Championship in 2016. She participated in the 2016 Japan Women's Open Golf Championship where she made the cut and finished tied for 28th place.
She played for the Japan National Team in 2017 and 2018. She won the 2018 Junior Golf World Cup with the team and finished 4th individually. She was also 4th individually at the 2018 Asian Games, where the Japan team finished 5th.
Furue won the 2019 Fujitsu Ladies on the LPGA of Japan Tour as an amateur, thus was awarded exemption of the JLPGA Player Certification Test, and turned professional shortly afterwards.
Professional career
Furue recorded three victories and two runner-up finishes on the LPGA of Japan Tour in 2020. She shot up to No. 42 in the Women's World Golf Rankings to secure a spot at the 2020 U.S. Women's Open, where she did not make the cut.
In 2021, she won a further three tournaments and rose to No. 14 in the world rankings. She was in contention at the 2021 Evian Championship where she birdied three of the last four holes to claim fourth ahead of Atthaya Thitikul.
At the 2021 Women's British Open, Furue started the final round four shots behind co-leaders Anna Nordqvist and Nanna Koerstz Madsen, but lost ground on the leaders and ended tied for 20th as she carded a level-par round of 72 that featured an eagle, two birdies and four bogeys.
Furue earned her card for the 2022 LPGA Tour through qualifying school.
She won her first LPGA Tour tournament, at the Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open on 31 July 2022, shooting a course record 10-under-par 62 (267, −21) in the final round to win by three strokes over Céline Boutier, after trailing by four strokes after 54 holes to co-leaders Boutier and Lydia Ko.
In 2024, Furue won her first major at the Evian Championship. She scored an eagle on the final hole to win by one stroke over Stephanie Kyriacou.
Amateur wins
- 2012 Kansai Elementary School Golf Championship
- 2014 Kansai Junior High School Golf Championship
- 2015 Kansai Junior High School Golf Championship, National Junior High School Golf Championship
- 2016 Kansai High School Golf Championship
- 2018 Kansai Women's Amateur Championship
Professional wins (10)
LPGA Tour wins (2)
| Legend |
|---|
| Major championships (2) |
| Other LPGA Tour (1) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner-up | Winner's share ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 31 Jul 2022 | Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open | 69-68-68-62=267 | −21 | 3 strokes | Céline Boutier | 300,000 |
| 2 | 14 Jul 2024 | Amundi Evian Championship | 65-65-70-65=265 | −19 | 1 stroke | Stephanie Kyriacou | 1,200,000 |
Co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour.
LPGA of Japan Tour wins (8)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 Oct 2019 | Fujitsu Ladies | 67-65-67=199 | −17 | 2 strokes | Mone Inami Kana Mikashima |
| 2 | 20 Sep 2020 | Descente Ladies Tokai Classic | 66-67-68=201 | −15 | Playoff | Hiroko Azuma |
| 3 | 15 Nov 2020 | Ito En Ladies Golf Tournament | 69-65-70=204 | −12 | Playoff | Miki Sakai |
| 4 | 22 Nov 2020 | Daio Paper Elleair Ladies Open | 65-71-64-69=269 | −15 | 3 strokes | Lee Min-young |
| 5 | 17 Oct 2021 | Fujitsu Ladies | 65-67=132 | −12 | Playoff | Minami Katsu |
| 6 | 24 Oct 2021 | Nobuta Group Masters GC Ladies | 69-71-67-69=276 | −12 | 1 stroke | Mao Saigo |
| 7 | 7 Nov 2021 | Toto Japan Classic | 68-67-68-69=272 | −16 | 3 strokes | Mone Inami |
| 8 | 16 Oct 2022 | Fujitsu Ladies | 66-65-69=200 | −16 | 1 stroke | Akie Iwai |
Ayaka won the 2019 Fujitsu Ladies as an amateur.
Major championships
Wins (1)
| Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | Margin | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Evian Championship | 1 stroke deficit | −19 (65-65-70-65=265) | 1 stroke | Stephanie Kyriacou |
Results timeline
Results not in chronological order.
| Tournament | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevron Championship | T44 | T52 | T50 | ||
| U.S. Women's Open | CUT | CUT | T6 | T6 | |
| Women's PGA Championship | CUT | T8 | T19 | ||
| The Evian Championship | NT | 4 | T19 | T36 | 1 |
| Women's British Open | T20 | CUT | T21 |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
T = tied
Summary
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevron Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| U.S. Women's Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Women's PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| The Evian Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Women's British Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Totals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 17 | 13 |
LPGA Tour career summary
| Year | Tournaments played | Cuts made* | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top 10s | Best finish | Earnings ($) | Money list rank | Scoring average | Scoring rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | CUT | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | ||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | |||
| 2022 | 27 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 957,831 | 29 | 70.34 | 21 |
| 2023 | 24 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 1,637,334 | 13 | 70.30 | 16 |
| Totals^ | 51 | 46 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 1 | 2,595,165 | 164 |
^ official as of 2023 season
*
World ranking
Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.
| Year | Ranking | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 768 | |
| 2017 | 600 | |
| 2018 | 413 | |
| 2019 | 82 | |
| 2020 | 16 | |
| 2021 | 14 | |
| 2022 | 22 | |
| 2023 | 24 |
Team appearances
Amateur
- Neighbors Trophy Team Championship (representing Japan): 2017
- Queen Sirikit Cup (representing Japan): 2017, 2018
- Junior Golf World Cup (representing Japan): 2017, 2018 (winners)
- Asian Games (representing Japan): 2018
Source:
Professional
- International Crown (representing Japan): 2023
References
External links
- Ayaka Furue at the LPGA Tour official site
- Ayaka Furue at the LPGA of Japan Tour official site
- Ayaka Furue at the Women's World Golf Rankings official site
- Ayaka Furue on X