Furue of Japan wins Evian Championship for her 1st major, beats Australian Kyriacou by 1 shot

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France (AP) — 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.

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.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Ayaka Furue, of Japan, looks at the sky as she celebrates after winning the Evian Championship women's golf tournament, in Evian, eastern France, Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

Lauren Coughlin, of USA, plays on the 5th hole during the last round of the Evian Championship women's golf tournament, in Evian, eastern France, Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

Ayaka Furue, of Japan, plays on the fourth hole during the last round of the Evian Championship women's golf tournament, in Evian, eastern France, Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

Patty Tavatanakit, of Thailand, plays on the 2nd hole during the last round of the Evian Championship women's golf tournament, in Evian, eastern France, Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

Ayaka Furue, of Japan, celebrates with her trophy after winning the Evian Championship women's golf tournament, in Evian, eastern France, Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

Stephanie Kyriacou, of Australia, plays on the fourth hole during the last round of the Evian Championship women's golf tournament, in Evian, eastern France, Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

Ayaka Furue, of Japan, celebrates after winning the Evian Championship women's golf tournament, in Evian, eastern France, Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

Ayaka Furue, of Japan, kisses her trophy after winning the Evian Championship women's golf tournament, in Evian, eastern France, Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

Ayaka Furue, of Japan, celebrates with her trophy after winning the Evian Championship women's golf tournament, in Evian, eastern France, Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Millions of people in Pakistan continue to live along the path of floodwaters, showing neither people nor the government have learned any lessons from the 2022 devastating floods that killed 1,737 people, experts said Thursday, as an aid group said half of the victims among 300 people killed by rains since July are children.

Heavy rainfall is currently drenching those areas that had been badly hit by the deluges two years ago.

The charity Save the Children said in a statement that floods and heavy rains have killed more than 150 children in Pakistan since the start of the monsoon season, making up more than half of all deaths in rain-affected areas.

The group said that 200 children have also been injured in Pakistan because of rains, which have also displaced thousands of people. Save the Children also said that people affected by floods were living in a relief camp in Sanghar, a district in the southern Sindh province, which was massively hit by floods two years ago.

“The rains and floods have destroyed 80% of cotton crops in Sanghar, the primary source of income for farmers, and killed hundreds of livestock,” the charity said, and added that it's supporting the affected people with help from a local partner.

Khuram Gondal, the country director for Save the Children in Pakistan, said that children were always the most affected in a disaster.

“We need to ensure that the immediate impacts of the floods and heavy rains do not become long-term problems. In Sindh province alone, more than 72,000 children have seen their education disrupted," he said.

Another charity, U.K.-baed Islamic Relief, also said weeks of torrential rains in Pakistan have once again triggered displacement and suffering among communities that were already devastated by the 2022 floods and are still in the process of rebuilding their lives and livelihoods.

Asif Sherazi, the group's country director, said his group is reaching out to flood-affected people.

There was no immediate response from the country’s ministry of climate change and national disaster management authority.

Pakistan has yet to undertake major reconstruction work as because the government didn't receive most of the funds out of the $9 billion, which were pledged by the international community at last year's donors' conference in Genera.

“We learned no lessons from that 2022 floods. Millions of people have built mud-brick homes on the paths of rivers, which usually remain dry,” said Mohsin Leghari, who served as irrigation minister years ago.

Leghari said that less rain is predicted for Pakistan for monsoon season compared to 2022, when climate-induced floods caused $30 billion in damage to the country's economy.

“But, the floodwater has inundated several villages in my own Dera Ghazi Khan district in the Punjab province,” Leghari said. “Floods have affected farmers, and my own land has once again come under the floodwater."

Wasim Ehsan, an architect, also said Pakistan was still not prepared to handle any 2022-like situation mainly because people ignore construction laws while building homes and even hotels in the urban and rural areas.

He said the floods in 2022 caused damages in the northwest because people had even built homes and hotel after slightly diverting a river. “This is reason that a hotel was destroyed by the Swat river in 2022," he said.

Saad Edhi, an official at the country's largest ambulance service, also said based upon his past experience of supervising relief operations, he could say that Pakistan may suffer damages if it faces the 2022-like floods.

People wade through a flooded road caused by heavy monsoon rain, in Hyderabad, Pakistan, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Pervez Masih)