The math was simple Sunday at the CME Group Tour Championship: Whoever shot lower in the final round, Ayaka Furue or Haeran Ryu, would win the Vare Trophy.
Furue and Ryu were the top two eligible players to win the LPGA’s scoring average title (Jeeno Thitikul and Nelly Korda didn’t meet the minimum number of rounds played this season).
Ryu had a slight edge entering the week but, after three rounds at Tiburon Golf Club, the two were knotted in the season-long battle.
Ryu posted first on Sunday, just missing a birdie putt on her final hole to card 3-under 69. At the time, Furue was 4 under for her round with five holes to play.
The Japanese player, however, bogeyed the 15th to drop to 3 under for the day. Had she finished there, the two players would have shared the award. But Furue birdied the par-5 17th and parred the last to win outright.
“I feel winning the Vare Trophy is such a difficult thing to achieve and I think very happy to have this trophy in my hands right now,” Furue said. “And then I’m so honored to be the first Japanese player to win this trophy. Yeah, I’m so honored.”
Furue ended with a 69.99 stroke average; Ryu’s was 70.00.
In other awards, Mao Saigo won the Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year. Nelly Korda previously clinched the Rolex Player of the Year.
