EVIAN-LES-BAINS – Ayaka Furue of Japan made a late charge to win the Evian Championship with an eagle on the last hole to clinch her first major title on Sunday.
The 24-year-old Furue held her nerve with another clinical putt, having made three birdies in the previous four holes to finish on 19 under overall after posting a 6-under 65.
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Furue placed one stroke ahead of Australian Stephanie Kyriacou (67), the overnight leader, and two ahead of Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit — who made a superb 63 to move into contention for her second major.
American Lauren Coughlin (69) finished four shots behind Furue in fourth place.
Heading to the 18th hole Furue and Kyriacou were level at 17 under with Tavatanakit, who was already in the clubhouse.
Furue teed off well and found the fairway but Kyriacou's shot swerved left into the rough.
Furue found the green with her second shot, giving her a championship shot and, moments later, she was doused with Champagne. Her previous best performance at a major was fourth at Evian in 2021.
“I am so honoured to be the winner," Furue said. "I didn’t believe that I could get a major win, so I am so happy right now.”
It was only her second title on the LPGA Tour, the other coming at the Women’s Scottish Open in 2022 when she rallied from a four-shot deficit.
The 23-year-old Kyriacou, who birdied the 18th, also secured her best result. Her previous best was a tie for seventh at the Women's British Open two years ago.
“It sucks not to hold the trophy, but if you’d told me I would come second at the start of the week, I would’ve been happy," Kyriacou said. “Obviously a lot of stuff worked well for me this week, so just trying to keep the same mindset going forward and hopefully I can win.”
Tavatanakit won a major at the ANA Inspiration in 2021.
Overnight, Kyriacou was one stroke ahead of Furue and Coughlin, who tied for third at the Chevron Championship for her best major result.
Coughlin birdied the ninth hole to move to 17 under and take a one-stroke lead from Kyriacou, who missed a straightforward birdie chance after appearing to be bothered by an insect.
But Kyriacou birdied the 15th to move level with Coughlin. Furue was gaining momentum now, sinking back-to-back birdies from the edge of the green on the 14th and 15th.
“I felt like I had to play aggressively today, but after I started playing, I was a little bit frustrated because I wasn’t getting many birdies,” Furue said. "After the 15th hole, I gained confidence and that was really good for me.”
Her approach to the 16th hole gave her another birdie chance and she took it to stay one behind Kyriacou, who also birdied, and Tavatanakit, who eagled the 18th.
“I kept giving myself a lot of opportunities,” Tavatanakit said. “I told myself to just trust myself and feel it.”
Kyriacou and Coughlin struggled on the approach to the green on the 311-yard 17th hole and both bogeyed.
Furue almost made another brilliant long birdie, which would have given her the outright lead. Instead she went to the final hole level with Kyriacou and Tavatanakit.
Also, top-ranked American Nelly Korda tied for 26th in a group including 2018 champion Angela Stanford of the United States and 2022 winner Brooke Henderson of Canada.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf