(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. The tour was founded in 1968. It is the second richest women's golf tour in the world. The U.S.-based LPGA Tour is the mo ...

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 LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly ...

. 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 Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

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, with a prize fund of 140 million Yen. Tournament names through the years: *1968–1970: TBS Wome ...

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 () is a junior golf championship held each summer in Japan for national teams of golfers 18 and under from around the globe. Qualifying events are held on six continents to determine the 12 boys’ teams and nine g ...

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

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games (), and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 201 ...

, 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. For 2025, the total ...

on the

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

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 12 women's golf tours and the organisations behind them: Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPG ...

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 Atthaya Thitikul (, , ; born 20 February 2003), also Jeeno Thitikul, is a Thai professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour. Until 2023, she was the youngest golfer ever to win a professional golf tournam ...

. At the 2021 Women's British Open, 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 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 Céline Boutier (born 10 November 1993) is a French professional golfer who plays on the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour. She has multiple wins on both tours including one major, the 2023 Evian Championship. Amateur career Boutier won se ...

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

Lydia Ko Dame Lydia Ko (born 24 April 1997) is a New Zealand professional golfer, member of the LPGA Hall of Fame, and the reigning Olympic champion. She first reached number one in the Women's World Golf Rankings on 2 February 2015 at of age, makin ...

. In 2024, Furue won her first major at the

Evian Championship The Evian Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as The Amundi Evian Championship, is a women's professional golf tournament in France, played at the Evian Resort Golf Club in Évian-les-Bains. It was originally held in June, move ...

. She scored an

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

on the final hole to win by one stroke over

Stephanie Kyriacou Stephanie Kyriacou (born 22 November 2000) is an Australian professional golfer and LPGA Tour player. She won the 2020 Australian Ladies Classic – Bonville by eight strokes as an amateur and joined the Ladies European Tour on a two-year winner ...

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)

Co-sanctioned by the

Ladies European Tour The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. Most of the players on the tour are European, with members from more than 40 countries internationally. Despite its name, the tour also has tournaments in A ...

LPGA of Japan Tour wins (8)

Ayaka won the 2019

as an amateur.

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

''Results not in chronological order.'' CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
T = tied

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 11 (2023 Chevron – 2025 Chevron) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (five times)

LPGA Tour career summary

^ official as of 2024 season
*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 (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 for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

(representing Japan):

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Source: Professional *

International Crown The Hanwha LifePlus International Crown is a biennial women's professional team golf tournament on the LPGA Tour. Eight national teams of four players each (32 players in total) participate in the match play event. Beginning in 2025, the field ...

(representing Japan):

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Furue, Ayaka Japanese female golfers LPGA of Japan Tour golfers LPGA Tour golfers Winners of LPGA major golf championships Sportspeople from Kobe Golfers from Hyōgo Prefecture 2000 births Living people 21st-century Japanese sportswomen