Maybe it’s something about the air in Scotland. Just two weeks after Cameron Smith came from four shots off the two overnight leaders to win the Open Championship at St. Andrews, Ayaka Furue did the same to claim the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open. Indeed, the diminutive 22-year-old from Japan went two better than Smith’s closing 64 over the old course. Ten birdies capped Furue’s bogey-free final round on the Kyle Phillips-designed Dundonald Links, a week-best 62 taking him to a 21-under 267 total that was three shots better than anyone else. on the ground could manage.
There were other similarities as well. Just as Smith was aided by mediocre to poor play from Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland over the closing 18 holes, Furue certainly gained momentum from a generally uninspired final day performance and Lydia Ko’s score (71). The other 54-hole leader, Celine Boutier, fared a little better, shooting a 69 to finish second, one shot ahead of Hyo Joo Kim and Cheyenne Knight. But two bogeys in three holes from the 11th left the Frenchwoman with a lot to make up for.
But it doesn’t matter. It was the highest-ranked game by Furue, a 2021 LPGA Q Series graduate in the midst of her rookie season. Seeing her chance for a first LPGA Tour victory, the seven-time winner on the Japan LPGA circuit grabbed it with an extended sequence of excellent performances. Guided by her Scottish caddy, Mike Scott, and clearly gripped by the kind of inspiration every golfer wants on the greens, Furue did just about everything on the course. So it was that, to no one’s surprise, the eight-footer she held for a final drop under the par-5 18th went dead center.
“My shots and shots and the game in general was very good,” Furue said, speaking through a translator. “The big birdies I had to do, I was able to do. This win builds a lot of confidence and I look forward to playing in other big tournaments, starting next week [at the AIG Women’s Open]. I am very happy that I was able to win in the country of my caddy’s birth. He is always a great help to me.”
As for the desperate challengers, Boutier will probably feel the biggest disappointment. But also encouragement. Missing cuts in each of her most recent two starts means the Duke graduate arrived in Scotland with something less than perfect. But moods can change quickly in tournaments. Despite what turned out to be a disappointing finish, the birdie the 28-year-old Frenchman made on the final green to claim second place will see her field at Muirfield for the aforementioned Women’s Open with at least one smile. her face.
Likewise, there have been times over the years when Ko has made the game of golf look like the easiest thing in the world. The 17-year-old New Zealander’s memorable display of controlled shooting at Royal Melbourne en route to winning the Australian Open title in 2015 comes readily to mind. Later that year, she cruised to a six-stroke victory at the Evian Masters. And a month after that first major triumph (her ninth LPGA Tour win), Ko won the Taiwan LPGA Championship by nine strokes.
But this event turned out to be unlike any of them. Struggling rather than performing at anything close to her grand best, Ko’s closing effort saw her climb into a tie for fifth alongside American Alison Lee. Already 14 under after 36 holes, her play over the weekend was best characterized by an inability to create many realistic birdie chances. It just wasn’t her day (or days).
This, along with almost everything else, belonged to Ayaka Furue.
