God bless you and keep you. With four holes remaining in the Amundi Evian Championship, Ayaka Furue, a lover of the venerable American film franchise, couldn’t help but think of the famous line from Star Wars. She managed a wild finish in France, finishing with a five-under total that would have made any Kessel run worthwhile. Furue closed with a 65, capping the charge with an eagle to win the event at 19 under and beat Stephanie Kyriacou by one stroke to claim her first major championship of her career.
Furue responded, “Then, I think that sentence on the fifteenth hole.” “The sentence came up in my mind and I was just keep going on with that quote.”
As an amateur, Furue, 24, won the JLPGA’s 2019 Fujitsu Ladies Open, marking her maiden victory on the national circuit. This was her first of eight triumphs. Soon after winning her maiden title, she became professional. Furue made waves in the 2021 Evian with a T-4 result before earning a spot on the LPGA in 2022.
With her first LPGA triumph at the 2022 Scottish Open, her rookie season got off to a good start. Triumphs were slow to come; Furue had finished without a win in her first title for 18 top 10s since this week. Miyu Yamashita, a fellow countrywoman, edged Furue by one spot in the global rankings in the final tournament to qualify by finishing runner-up in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Furue ultimately missed out on representing Japan at the Olympics.
An incredible eagle finish for @kodebuchanayaka to win her first major at @EvianChamp 🦅 pic.twitter.com/gNZ5BhFM07
— LPGA (@LPGA) July 14, 2024
Furue had a great start to the Evian, going 46 holes without making a bogey. However, she lost ground on the lead for the majority of Sunday. At the turn, Furue trailed American Lauren Coughlin, 31, by two strokes, and with five holes remaining, she was three strokes behind the American and in fourth place behind Kyriacou and a charging Patty Tavatanakit. “Playing the 14th hole, you’re maybe starting to think maybe it’s not your day,” Furue’s caddie Michael Scott said. “But still five holes to go, and anything can happen coming down the stretch in a major championship.”
Furue’s drive to the rear of the green on the 14th hole, a 176-yard par-3, wouldn’t seem to be the catalyst for a recovery. However, she only trailed by two after the twisting 33-footer caught into the cup. On the 524-yard par-5 15th hole, Furue blasted a similar-length 39-footer for birdie to trail her fellow group members by one. “I am usually not the type of person who reacts to my birdie putts a lot.” According to Furue, “But that [the putt on No. 15] was really lucky for me, that was really fortunate for me, so I just reacted.”
On the sixteenth hole, she maintained her momentum by making her third consecutive birdie, hitting the 155-yard par-3 within 10 feet. Abruptly, Furue found himself tied for second place with Tavatanakit, who shot a flawless 63 to maintain the clubhouse lead at 17 under, and just one stroke behind Kyriacou. Coughlin bogeyed the 17th hole to fall two behind the lead after making her first mistake of the day on the par 3. With a final round two-under 69, Coughlin tied for fourth place, her second top-4 finish in a major this year.
It was obviously disheartening to end the way I did, Coughlin remarked. For nearly fifteen holes today, or at least until hole fifteen, I was in the lead as a major. So yeah, I’m not unhappy about it at all.” As a consolation prize, Coughlin moved up to seventh place in the U.S. Solheim points list, which is the final spot that automatically qualifies for points, surpassing Rose Zhang. Following the AIG Women’s Open on August 23, the American squad will be finalized.
Then, on the eighteenth hole, Kyriacou hooked her drive, leaving herself 125 yards in and still making birdie with her punch out that caught the tree. With a brutal drive to the right side of the fairway, Furue set herself up to try for the green in two. Her 6-iron, aimed to 180 yards, only glanced over the pond before lumbering up to ten feet away from the cup. To settle the Evian, Furue emptied her eagle. Kyriacou declared, “It was a good week.” Being denied the award is a bummer. At the beginning of the week, I would have been pleased if you had told me that I would place second.”
Nelly Korda finished with an eagle to tie for fifth place at five under. In order to spend time with a friend in Croatia before defending her gold medal at Le Golf National in Paris, Korda has decided not to compete in any of the next three LPGA events before the Olympics.
Furue has also decided to take a long hiatus, skipping games until August 15 at the Women’s Scottish. To celebrate the win and the momentous achievement, she intends to travel back to her native Japan. Along with Yuka Saso’s victory in the U.S. Women’s Open, Furue’s triumph makes her the third female major champion and a part of the first men’s or women’s season to achieve multiple major championships in a single year.
I think that Japanese players’ victories are really significant to me now that Yuka has won,” Furue remarked. I find it to be really beneficial. And then, because I adore this course and everything about it, I feel like I could win this event.”