19th Hole

12 players to follow in 2022: (7) Ayaka Furue

Published

4 years ago

Dec 17, 2021

Over the next 12 days, the two presenters on our new ‘Across The Pond’ podcast, Matt Vincenzi and Jason Daniels give their 12 players to follow for 2022 to coincide with the 12 days of Christmas.

Related: 12 players to follow in 2022: (6) Ricardo Gouveia

None so far have won on their respective tours, so here’s to a long-term watch and investment!

7. Ayaka Furue (LPGA Tour)

Just a few days ago, the 21-year-old Japanese star safely secured her card when finishing in the top ten of the LPGA Q-School final qualifiers. Now she has made it, her name is on the list to follow for the next couple of seasons whatever happens in 2022.

As with another, more obvious, candidate on the LPGA Tour in Leona Maguire, it is merely a coincidence that Furue was also a high-class swimmer at junior level, but this column is glad she chose golf!

Again, here we have a player with an excellent junior record, winning national events at all ages and finishing top-30 in her home Open Golf Championship in 2016 as an amateur. Of interest is that the winner, fellow amateur and compatriot Nasa Hataoka, followed up as a professional and subsequently went on to win twice and make the play-off of the U.S Women’s Open this year.

On just her 18th start on the JLPGA Tour, Furue won the 2019 Fujitsu Ladies before turning professional and ending the season with a 4-2 finish, whilst a shortened 2020 season saw her notch up three wins, and the same amount of runner-up finishes from just 14 starts. Rather like Maguire, Furue hadn’t finished yet and this year saw her win the JLPGA rankings list and rank 15th on the Rolex World Rankings list.

The Summer saw this future star prospect finish in the top four at the high-class Major, the Evian Championship, whilst she was 15th going into the final day at the Women’s British Open before finishing top-20.

Her last seven events on her home tour have seen three wins, two bronze medals and a fifth, her final victory at the Japan Classic particularly of note given previous winners include Hataoka and LPGA Major winners Shanshan Feng and Jiyai Shin. Like the future star, neither of those are particularly long, and comparisons with the likes of the legend that is Inbee Park may not be short of the mark.

Furue will thrive at the more difficult tracks rather than the bomber’s paradise, but there are enough of those to believe she is very much the one to follow from a large group of qualifiers that again increase the overall quality of the already excellent LPGA tour.

19th Hole

How much each player won at the 2026 Masters

Published

1 month ago

Apr 13, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Rory McIlroy made it two wins in as many years at Augusta National, seeing off the challengers on a dramatic Sunday to slip on the green jacket once again. The victory earned Rory a whopping payday of $4.5 million, with Scottie Scheffler his closest challenger earning $2.43 million for his sole runner-up finish.

With a total prize purse of $22.5 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Masters tournament.

For players that did not make the cut, they still earned $25k for their efforts at the year’s opening major.

1: Rory McIlroy, $4.5 million
2: Scottie Scheffler, $2.43 million
T3: Tyrrell Hatton, $1.08 million
T3: Russell Henley, $1.08 million
T3: Justin Rose, $1.08 million
T3: Cameron Young, $1.08 million
T7: Collin Morikawa, $725,625
T7: Sam Burns, $725,625
T9: Xander Schauffele, $630,00
T9: Max Homa, $630,00
11: Jake Knapp, $562,500
T12: Jordan Spieth, $427,500
T12: Brooks Koepka, $427,500
T12: Hideki Matsuyama, $427,500
T12: Patrick Reed, $427,500
T12: Patrick Cantlay, $427,500
T12: Jason Day, $427,500
T18: Viktor Hovland, $315,000
T18: Maverick McNealy, $315,000
T18: Matt Fitzpatrick, $315,000
T21: Keegan Bradley, $252,000
T21: Ludvig Aberg, $252,000
T21: Wyndham Clark, $252,000
T24: Matt McCarty, $182,083
T24: Adam Scott, $182,083
T24: Sam Stevens, $182,083
T24: Chris Gotterup, $182,083
T24: Michael Brennan, $182,083
T24: Brian Campbell, $182,083
T30: Alex Noren, $146,250
T30: Harris English, $146,250
T30: Shane Lowry, $146,250
T33: Gary Woodland, $121,500
T33: Dustin Johnson, $121,500
T33: Brian Harman, $121,500
T33: Tommy Fleetwood, $121,500
T33: Ben Griffin, $121,500
T38: Jon Rahm, $105,750
T38: Ryan Gerard, $101,250
T38: Haotong Li, $96,750
T41: Justin Thomas, $92,250
T41: Sepp Straka, $87,750
T41: Jacob Bridgeman, $83,250
T41: Kristoffer Reitan, $78,750
T41: Nick Taylor, $74,250
46: Sungjae Im, $69,750
47: Si Woo Kim, $65,250
48: Aaron Rai, $61,650
T49: Corey Conners, $57,600
T49: Marco Penge, $57,600
51: Kurt Kitayama, $55,250
52: Sergio Garcia, $54,000
53: Rasmus Hojgaard, $52,650
54: Charl Schwartzel, $51,300

19th Hole

CBS’s Sunday Masters coverage slammed by golf fans

Published

1 month ago

Apr 13, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

While Sunday was a dramatic day at the Masters, many golf fans were left feeling frustrated by the CBS final round coverage.

There were plenty of moments that golf fans took to social media to air their frustrations on Sunday over, including a lack of shots being shown throughout the day, being behind the live action, confusion over the approach shots of the final group on 18, and providing an angle for the winning putt where the cup couldn’t be seen.

Here’s a look at some of the criticisms that were directed at the CBS coverage throughout the day on X:

This has been a brutal broadcast for CBS. When the folks from Augusta sit down with them this year, you can bet they’ll talk about this 15 seconds where we have no idea where Rory’s ball went, and Dottie moans. #TheMasters pic.twitter.com/ak3mkpIN7V

— Ryan (@PossiblyRy) April 12, 2026

It’s rare criticism coming in for CBS, who are usually heavily praised for their Masters coverage each year.

19th Hole

The surprise club Tommy Fleetwood says is key to his Masters chances

Published

1 month ago

Apr 7, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Tommy Fleetwood goes in search for the first major victory of his career again this week, with the Englishman proving to be a popular pick at Augusta National.

Fleetwood’s best showing at Augusta came back in 2024 where he finished T3, and while speaking at his pre-tournament press conference, the 35-year-old emphasized the importance of his 9-wood in his pursuit of the green jacket.

Speaking on Tuesday to media, Fleetwood said:

“It’s a great 9-wood golf course. I think it’s always been — I can’t remember when I first put like a 9-wood in or a high lofted club, but it’s a perfect like 9-wood golf course. I’ve had that in the bag for a few years.”

The Englishman continued, revealing that his strategy for the week won’t just be to hit driver off the tee as much as possible:

“Yeah, it’s funny really because I know Augusta is probably associated with being fairly forgiving off the tee in a way, so you think you can whale around driver a little bit. But I don’t necessarily think that’s always the play for me. I think there’s holes that set up really well where I can draw it with the mini driver if I’m feeling less comfortable with the driver and things like that.”

That strategy he believes will make his TaylorMade Qi10 9-wood extra critical this week in Georgia:

“The biggest thing is the 9-wood for me. If I can put myself in position on the par-5s or the 4th long par-3, like it — for me, I can’t really hit that high 4-iron, so 9-wood helps me a lot.”