5 things to know about Ayaka Furue: All about the Amundi Evian Championship Major winner
Amundi Evian Championship – Final Round

Ayaka Furue, 2024 Amundi Evian Championship (Image via Getty)
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Ayaka Furue emerged victorious at the 2024 Amundi Evian Championship that was concluded at the Evian Resorts Golf Club in Evian Les Bains, France this week.

Having made her debut on the LPGA Tour in 2022, she now has two titles under her belt, including the Amundi Evian Championship.

The Japanese earned her country only its fourth Major title in LPGA Tour history with a score of 19 under par 265 for four rounds. Furue took home a massive cheque worth $1.2 million to bring her total earnings for the 2024 season to $2,444,717, ranking her third on the tour’s Official Money List. Here’s a look into five things you need to know about the 2024 Amundi Evian Championship winner.

#1. Ayaka Furue is the shortest player on the LPGA Tour
Ayaka Furue, 2024 Amundi Evian Championship (Image via Getty)
Ayaka Furue, 2024 Amundi Evian Championship (Image via Getty)
Ayaka Furue was born in Kobe, Kansai in Japan on 27 May 2000. The 24 year old sensation is the shortest player on the LPGA Tour bearing a height of just five feet (153 cm).

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The 2024 Amundi Evian Championship winner is just fifteen inches taller than her driver. Despite her height, she walks tall and possesses incredible course management skills and takes on the game with grace. She joined Alison Nicholas as the shortest player to win a Major championship at precisely five feet and is the only player to do so since Nicholas’ feat at the 1997 US Women’s Open.

#2. She began playing the sport as a three-year-old
Ayaka Furue was born to her father, Yoshihiro, and a mother, who’s name is not publically available. She was introduced to the sport at the young age of just three years old by her father.

Under her father’s guidance, the Japan native took several amateur championship titles under her belt. Furue’s childhood was not only filled with a lot of golf but also swimming, which she took on at the age of four.

#3 Furue only missed two cuts on the LPGA Tour in 2023
Having competed in 24 events on the LPGA Tour last year, Ayaka Furue made the cut in 22 of them. Out of the cuts made, she recorded eight top-ten finishes and went on to make $1,637,334 to rank 13th on the LPGA Tour’s 2023 Official Money List.

She recorded her worst finish of the 2023 season at the Honda LPGA Thailand with a score of five under par 283 that landed her tied for 49th place. With two third-place finishes in 2023, the Japanese saw her best finish of the season at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play. She had an impressive 31 under par 257 score to leave her with a solo runner-up finish.

#4. Ayaka Furue ranks second on the Race to CME Globe list
Ayaka Furue ranks 21st on the Rolex Official World Golf Rankings with 169.30 points earned in 62 events played. She averages 3.42 points earned per event she plays.

The Japan native ranks second on the LPGA Tour’s Race to CME Globe rankings with $2,444,717 made in earnings this season. She has recorded nine year-to-date top-10 finishes to gain 2081.702 Race to CME Points.

#5. Furue earned her first LPGA Tour title during her rookie year
Ayaka Furue is an eight-time winner on the LPGA of Japan Tour. She turned professional in 2019 and earned her card on the LPGA Tour after finishing in seventh place at the 2021 LPGA Q – Series.

In her rookie year on the tour, Furue played in 27 events and made the cut in 24. She recorded four top ten finishes that season and also picked up her maiden LPGA Tour title at the 2022 Truist Golf Women’s Scottish Open.

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Edited by Neelabhra Roy