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.[1] 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.[2]
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.[3]
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.[1]
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.[1]
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.[4]
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.[5]
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.[6]
Furue earned her card for the 2022 LPGA Tour through qualifying school.[7]
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.[8]
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.[2]
1 Co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour.
a Ayaka won the 2019 Fujitsu Ladies as an amateur.
Results not in chronological order.
CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
T = tied
^ official as of 2023 season[10][11][12]
*Includes matchplay and other tournaments without a cut.
Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.
Amateur
Source:[9]
Professional