Ayaka Furue gets off to a hot start in LPGA season opener with a 65 to lead by two shots

Ayaka Furue of Japan did not see any signs of a fast start coming until she opened her 2024 LPGA season on Thursday with a red-hot performance.

Furue made seven birdies in a round 7-under 65, giving her a two-shot lead in the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona.

Furue, 23, who captured the Ladies Scottish Open in 2022 for her first LPGA title, is making her second start at the LPGA's season opener for winners each of the last two years. She broke from a pack late in her round with birdies on the closing two holes at Lake Nona, the Tom Fazio design that hosted the first Solheim Cup in 1990.

An eight-time winner on the Japan LPGA and that circuit’s 2021 Player of the Year, Furue was steady throughout to start her third LPGA season, finishing without a bogey on her card.