Sunday morning, Allisen Corpuz was trailing the U.S. Women’s Open and was still winless on the LPGA Tour.
After the first hole, she wasn’t trailing anymore. By the end of the round, she wasn’t winless anymore.
Corpuz shot a final-round 69, including back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15, to pull away from a surging Charley Hull and Jiyai Shin and win the 78th U.S. Women’s Open by three strokes. Corpuz becomes the first female major champion in the long history of the iconic Pebble Beach Golf Links.
“This week has just felt like a dream come true. It’s been really awesome to be out at Pebble this week,” she said. “Every few holes I just kind of looked out and said, I’m out here at Pebble Beach. There’s not many places that are better than this. Really just tried to stay grounded and keep playing my game.”
The first women’s major at the seaside links also served as the potential final professional start for the most famous golfer from Hawaii, Michelle Wie West. So it makes sense an alumna of the same high school like Corpuz would also author her breakthrough win the same week. She’s also the first American to win the U.S. Women’s Open since 2016.
Corpuz was the only player to shoot under par for each round of the tournament.
Corpuz, a second-year pro out of USC, didn’t come into the tournament with the hype of some of the other stars like Nelly Korda, Rose Zhang, Jin Young Ko or others, but she’d been knocking on the door for a while.
In April, she entered the final round of the Chevron Championship in a share of the lead, but four bogeys on her front nine knocked her out of contention.
This time at Pebble, she entered the final round a shot back of Nasa Hataoka. As slow as she started the final round in Texas three months ago, she started Sunday just as fast. She birdied 1 and No. 3 to flip the script on Hataoka and never looked back. She took the solo lead for good with a birdie on 10
Even as Hull, who put together one of the low rounds of the tournament with a 66, closed to within two shots as Hataoka fell back, Corpuz slammed the door shut.
U.S. Women’s Open again offering recording-breaking purse and winner’s share
She hit approaches to seven feet and then four feet on 14 and 15 and converted both looks to reach 10 under and open up a four-shot lead. She let off just a small fist pump on 15.
“My mind kind of drifted to it on and off throughout the day,” she said. “I made the birdie at 1, 3, and just kind of told myself, stay in the moment. It’s obviously not done yet. Still a lot of golf to play.
“I think that was the moment when I kind of knew like I just need to get home.”
Despite a bogey on 17, Corpuz stood on the 18th tee, one of the most famous in golf, and threaded a tee shot on the iconic par-5 between the pacific open on the left and the tree in the middle of the fairway.
The normally stoic and level-headed Corpuz cracked a smile as started the walk down the fairway and then again when she reached the green two shots later.
It was only after the final putt fell, she truly let it hit her. She not only had her first LPGA title, but her first major as well.