In the same week that Michelle Wie West said goodbye to professional golf, another Hawaiian announced herself with a resounding hello.
Allisen Corpuz poured in six birdies to break away from the pack and win the U.S. Women’s Open by three strokes on Sunday at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links — earning not only her first major title but her first win of any kind on the LPGA Tour.
Corpuz trailed Japan’s Nasa Hataoka by one shot entering the final round and played with Hataoka in the final pairing. She turned in a 3-under 69 to finish at 9-under 279.
A 25-year-old from the Honolulu area, Corpuz took home a $2 million winner’s share of the $11 million prize pool, both records for women’s professional golf. It marked the first women’s major of the modern era to be held at the famed course along the Pacific Ocean.
“Every few holes I just kind of looked out and said, ‘I’m out here at Pebble Beach,'” Corpuz said at the trophy presentation. “There’s not many places that are better than this.”
As a child, Corpuz broke Wie’s record as the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links at just 10 years, three months and nine days old. Now, like Wie, she can call herself a major champion.
“I never really thought I’d get this far,” Corpuz said. “Just watching Michelle, she’s been such a huge role model to me … But I’ve never really compared myself to her. I’ve always wanted to make my own name. She’s just served as a really big inspiration.”
England’s Charley Hull rocketed up the leaderboard with a 6-under 66, matching Hataoka’s Saturday score for the low round of the week. Hull and South Korea’s Jiyai Shin (68) tied for second at 6 under, and Hataoka (76) faded to a tie for fourth at 3 under with Bailey Tardy (73).
Corpuz birdied the first hole to draw even with Hataoka right away, and at the par-5 second, her par putt barely slipped through the left-side door. She made a 12-foot birdie putt at No. 3 for the outright lead.
After Corpuz and Hataoka made the turn co-leading the championship at 7 under, Corpuz birdied the par-4 10th to take an outright lead she would not relinquish. Hataoka bogeyed No. 12, 14, 16 and 17, and Corpuz converted consecutive short birdie putts at Nos. 14 and 15.
“My coach told me this morning, ‘No one is going to give it to you,’ and I think I’ve just played a little conservatively in the past,” Corpuz said. “Just really went out there and told myself I had the game to do it (Sunday).”
Corpuz, who needed just 26 putts Sunday to pace the field, was a rookie in 2022 and entered the week with four top-five finishes in her year-plus on tour. That included a T4 finish in the first major of this season, the Chevron Championship.
Ayaka Furue of Japan shot a 69, tying South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim (74) for sixth at 2 under. Hae Ran Ryu of South Korea (74) was eighth at even par, and Rose Zhang posted a 72 to tie Sweden’s Maja Stark (72) for ninth at 1 over.
Sunday’s result continued a youth movement in women’s golf. In addition to the 20-year-old Zhang’s arrival on tour and victory in her professional debut last month, all three major champions thus far — 25-year-old Lilia Vu at the Chevron, Chinese 20-year-old Ruoning Yin at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and Corpuz — had not won on the LPGA Tour entering this season.
Hull, 27, earned her eighth top-10 at a major thanks to her red-hot round. She eagled the second after her approach shot rolled down a slope at the back of the green and settled inside 4 feet, starting her on an early eagle-birdie-birdie run. She finished with six birdies and only two bogeys.
“(My mindset was) just make as many birdies as I can because at the end of the day I’m chasing it down, so it’s quite fun,” Hull said. “I quite enjoy chasing someone because you got to make birdies and you got to make a move up that leaderboard.”
–Field Level Media
