The alumni office of Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii, can now boast one U.S. president (Barack Obama) and two U.S. Women’s Open champions, as Allisen Corpuz joins Michelle Wie West on the Harton S. Temple Trophy.
The 25-year-old Corpuz calmly pulled away on the back nine at Pebble Beach Golf Links on Sunday, shooting a 3-under 69 to finish at 9-under 279 for the week, comfortably three shots ahead of Sunday chargers Charley Hull of England and Jiyai Shin of South Korea.
Corpuz broke par every round at Pebble with scores of 69, 70, 71 and 69, becoming the first American to win the U.S. Women’s Open in seven years, since Brittany Lang in 2016 at CordeValle. She won the closest Women’s Open ever played to her native Hawaii and did it the same week that the 33-year-old Wie West retired from championship play after missing the cut.
“Unreal. This week has just felt like a dream come true,” Corpuz said after collecting the champion’s medal, trophy and a record $2 million check. “It was something I had dreamed of, but at the same time kind of just never really expected it to happen.”
“Accidentally saw a leaderboard I think on 14 or 15. Just tried to stick to the same game plan and just told (my caddie), ‘let’s try to make a few birdies coming in and let’s just bring it home.’ ”
Allisen corpuz
Corpuz has been playing USGA championships since she was 10 years, 3 months and 9 days old when she was the youngest qualifier in the 2008 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links, breaking the record set by Wie West. The 78th U.S. Women’s Open marked her 19th USGA championship start and fifth in the Women’s Open, an event that’s had her attention since Wie West won at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014 – “the big one,” as Corpuz calls it.
“I remember being at home and just being amazed,” Corpuz said of Wie West’s only major win. “Yeah, just really being inspired by her.”
In only her second year as a professional, Corpuz has quickly signaled that she has a game built for the major stages. In her Chevron Championship debut in April, she put herself in the final pairing on Sunday with a share of the 54-hole lead and ultimately finished T4. At the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol two weeks before Pebble, she again played her way onto the leaderboard on the weekend and tied 15th.
She leaned on both of those experiences when she found herself in contention again from the jump at Pebble.
“My coach called me this morning and told me that no one is going to give it to you,” Corpuz said. “I’ve just played a little conservatively in the past and just really went out there and told myself that I had the game to do it today.”
Starting Sunday a shot behind Japan’s Nasa Hataoka, Corpuz immediately applied pressure and took the lead with birdies on 1 and 3. Corpuz and Hataoka headed to the back nine tied at 7-under and with Hull making some noise a couple holes in front of them by moving within a shot at 6-under with consecutive birdies at 10 and 11.
Hull’s charge stalled there, and Corpuz and Hataoka went in opposite directions on Pebble’s challenging back side.
Corpuz calmly rolled in a 9-footer for birdie on 10 to retake the lead, and the Hawaiian known for her consistency off the tee wasn’t showing any signs of weakening. She added birdies at 14 and 15 to expand her lead, and Hataoka retreated with bogeys at 12, 14, 16 and 17.
Preferring to look at where she stood in the middle of Pebble’s scenery instead of where she stood on the scoreboards, Corpuz kept trying to make birdies.
“I got off to a pretty good start, and I kind of figured just keep my head down, keep playing my game,” she said. “Accidentally saw a leaderboard I think on 14 or 15. Just tried to stick to the same game plan and just told (my caddie), ‘let's try to make a few birdies coming in and let’s just bring it home.’ ”
She was four clear heading to the 17th, where she made her only bogey on the back to take a three-shot lead to Pebble’s iconic 18th hole. She confidently striped a low stinging drive down the heart of the fairway and avoided the Pacific Ocean with a safe layup. Two putts from 8 feet for par and the trophy was hers.
“I feel like everything that's happened this year has kind of prepared me for this moment,” Corpuz said.
Scott Michaux