(born 27 May 2000) is a Japanese

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

. After playing on the

LPGA of Japan Tour The LPGA of Japan Tour is a professional golf tour for women organised by the Japan Ladies Professional Golfers' Association. It is the second richest women's golf tour in the world. The U.S.-based LPGA Tour is the most important women's tour, but ...

where she has eight wins, she currently plays on the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...

. She won her first LPGA Tour championship on 31 July 2022, at the

Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open The Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open is a women's professional golf tournament in Scotland on the Ladies European Tour (LET). First played in 1986, it became a regular fixture on the tour schedule in 2010. Since 2017 it has been co-sanctioned ...

Early life and amateur career

Furue was born in

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

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 The is Japan's national women's open golf championship. From 2006 (as of 2011) it is one of the two richest tournaments on the LPGA of Japan Tour The LPGA of Japan Tour is a professional golf tour for women organised by the Japan Ladies Professi ...

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 The Toyota Junior Golf World Cup ( ja, 世界ジュニアゴルフ推進会) is an annual world amateur team golf championship for youths under 18 organized in Japan with Toyota Motor Corporation as title sponsor. The inaugural event for boys was h ...

with the team and finished 4th individually. She was also 4th individually at the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...

, where the Japan team finished 5th. Furue won the 2019

Fujitsu Ladies The Fujitsu Ladies is an annual golf tournament for professional female golfers on LPGA of Japan Tour. It is generally played in October and in recent years at the Tokyu Seven Hundred Club, Chiba, Chiba. It was founded in 1983. Winners *2022 ...

on the

as an amateur, and turned professional shortly afterwards.

Professional career

Furue recorded three victories and two runner-up finishes on the

in 2020. She shot up to No. 42 in the

Women's World Golf Rankings The Women's World Golf Rankings, also known for sponsorship reasons as the Rolex Rankings, were introduced in February 2006. They are sanctioned by eight women's golf tours and the organisations behind them: Ladies Professional Golf Association (L ...

to secure a spot at the

2020 U.S. Women's Open The 2020 U.S. Women's Open was the 75th U.S. Women's Open, played December 10–14 at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas, having been postponed from its original date of June 4–7, 2020, on April 3, 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. I ...

, 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 The 2021 Amundi Evian Championship was played 22–25 July at the Evian Resort Golf Club in Évian-les-Bains, France. It was the 27th Evian Championship (the first 20 played as the Evian Masters), and the eighth as a major championship on the L ...

where she birdied three of the last four holes to claim fourth ahead of

Atthaya Thitikul Atthaya Thitikul ( th, อาฒยา ฐิติกุล, , ; born 20 February 2003) is a Thai professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour. She is the youngest golfer ever to win a professional gol ...

. At the

2021 Women's British Open The 2021 AIG Women's British Open was played from 19 to 22 August in Scotland at Carnoustie Golf Links. It was the 45th Women's British Open, the 21st as a major championship on the LPGA Tour, and the second championship held under a sponsorship ...

, Furue started the final round four shots behind co-leaders

Anna Nordqvist --> , death_place = , height = , weight = , nationality = , residence = Orlando, Florida, U.S. , spouse = , partner = , children = , college = Arizona State University (2.5 years) , yearpro = ...

and

Nanna Koerstz Madsen Nanna Koerstz Madsen (born 23 October 1994) is a Danish professional golfer who plays on the American LPGA Tour and maintains membership of the Ladies European Tour (LET). She won the 2022 Honda LPGA Thailand and made history becoming the first ...

, 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

through

qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

. She won her first LPGA Tour tournament, at the

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 Céline Boutier (born 10 November 1993) is a French professional golfer. Amateur career Boutier won several international amateur events including the 2012 European Ladies Amateur Championship and the 2015 British Ladies Amateur. She played co ...

, after trailing by four strokes after 54 holes to co-leaders Boutier and

Lydia Ko Lydia Ko (born 24 April 1997) is a New Zealand professional golfer and the No. 1-ranked woman professional golfer. She first achieved the top ranking on 2 February 2015 at of age, making her the youngest player of either gender to be ranked ...

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 (9)

LPGA Tour wins (1)

Co-sanctioned by the

Ladies European Tour The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. It is based at Buckinghamshire Golf Club near London in England. Like many UK-based sports organisations it is a company limited by guarantee, a legal stru ...

LPGA of Japan Tour wins (8)

Ayaka won the 2019

as an amateur.

Results in LPGA majors

CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
T = tied

Summary

LPGA Tour career summary

^ official as of 31 July 2022
*Includes matchplay and other tournaments without a cut.

World ranking

Position in

at the end of each calendar year.

Team appearances

Amateur *Neighbors Trophy Team Championship (representing Japan): 2017 *

Queen Sirikit Cup The Queen Sirikit Cup, officially the Asia-Pacific Amateur Ladies Golf Team Championship, is an annual amateur team golf championship for women organised by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation. The inaugural event was held in 1979. The event is nam ...

(representing Japan): 2017, 2018 *

(representing Japan): 2017, 2018 (winners) *

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

(representing Japan):

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Source:

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Furue, Ayaka Japanese female golfers LPGA of Japan Tour golfers LPGA Tour golfers Sportspeople from Kobe 2000 births Living people 21st-century Japanese women