Japan’s Ayaka Furue returns to The Amundi Evian Championship as the defending champion, having captured her maiden major title at the Evian Resort Golf Club last year.
The 25-year-old made history as only the fourth Japanese woman to win a major, clinching victory with a dramatic 12-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th. The eagle capped off an impressive closing stretch by Furue, who went five-under on her last five holes, edging out two-time LET winner Stephanie Kyriacou by a single stroke.
“The very last hole on the 18th is one of the most memorable moments I have”, she recalled. “I never expected to be a major champion, but I was so happy when I started in the pro-am this morning that they introduced me as one so very pleased about that.”
I’m so happy that I can see my face and name everywhere in the city – it feels surreal.”
Now back at the course where she made her breakthrough, Furue is keeping her strategy simple: “It’s obviously not an easy course here – it’ll just be fairways and greens. That’s the game plan this week.”
Furue officially returned the trophy last night in front of players and guests for the next champion who will be crowned on Sunday.
“I wasn’t paying attention to return the trophy. I was honestly just paying attention to my speech. I was so nervous to speak in front of everyone, so sorry for that.”
The Japanese player has had mixed success in the majors so far this season with missed cuts at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally and a tie for 30th at the Chevron Championship.
She will commence round one at 1pm (local time) tomorrow, alongside Korea’s Jin Young Ko and America’s Angel Yin.
You can follow all the action throughout the tournament on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram, TikTok and X, and Ladies European Tour on YouTube and Facebook – #evianchamp.
