Fil-Am Corpuz scores major golf breakthrough in style
MANILA, Philippines – Filipino-American Allisen Corpuz outdueled third round leader Nasa Hataoka with a strong start and a stronger backside run, coming through with a 69 and scuttling England’s Charley Hull and Korean Jiyai Shin by three to capture the US Women’s Open crown in Pebble Beach, California Sunday (Monday, Manila time).
It was the 25-year-old Hawaii-born rising star’s first win in two years on the LPGA Tour and it came in the form of a major championship, making her the first American in two decades to make the crown jewel in women’s pro golf her first Tour title.
Her major feat netted her $2 million out of the record $11 million total prize.
“Unreal,” said Corpuz, whose father, also an avid golfer, hails from Ilocos Norte. “This week has felt like a dream come true. It’s been really awesome to be at Pebble Beach. Every few holes I kind of looked out and thought, ‘I’m here at Pebble. There’s not many places better than this.”
And only a few with great talent and spirit could find themselves on top of a major heap.
One stroke off Hataoka after 54 holes, Corpuz took control early with two birdies in the first three holes and as the Japanese faded in an exacting backside battle, the University of Southern California product kept pounding the links course and the field, birdying three of the first six holes to pull away from the pack.
She finished with a nine-under 279 and beat England’s Charley Hull and Korean Jiyai Shin by three, emerging as the only player to finish a run of under-par rounds (69-70-71-69).
Corpuz also became the second player with Filipino roots to win US Women’s Open after Fil-Japanese Yuka Saso in 2021.
She earlier tied for fourth in the Chevron Championship and shared 15th place in the Women’s PGA Championship.
Hull rallied with a 66 while Shin fired a 68 as they tied for second at 282 while Hataoka, whose solid 66 Saturday lifted her to the top of the stellar field, skied to a 76 marred by four bogeys in the last seven holes. The Japanese wound up tied for fourth at 285 with first day leader Bailey Tardy of the US, who carded a 73.
Meanwhile, Saso squandered another solid start with a bogey-marred finish as she closed out with a 71 to tie for 20th.
Like in the third round that saw her hobble at the finish after gunning down two eagles in the first six holes and end up with a 75, Saso rattled off four birdies in the first 10 holes to spark hopes of a big surge by the 2021 champion. But three bogeys in the next six holes halted her charge, leading to a 33-38 for a 72-hole total of five-over 293.
That was 14 strokes behind Corpuz, born to a Korean mother and whose grandparents moved to Hawaii when her father was just 8 years gold and settled there.
Saso came out smoking with big drives and superb iron play, picking up birdies on Nos. 3, 6, 9 and 10 and crashing into the Top 15 from joint 38th. But just when she thought she had gained the momentum, she failed to get up-and-down on No. 11 and struggled trying to get her rhythm back the rest of the way.
With a 293 total, the ICTSI-backed Saso finished at tied 20th and received $101,205.
Dottie Ardina, meanwhile, failed to rebound from a third round 77 as she closed out with another five-over par card to tumble to a share of 53rd after fueling hopes of a strong finish after a second round 71 that moved her to joint 11th.
She remained steady off the mound, missing just two fairways, but went out of regulation nine times again and ended up with 31 putts. She also went 0-of-3 from the greenside bunkers.
Ardina hit three birdies but made four bogeys and dropped two strokes each on Nos. 7 and 16 for a 38-39 and a four-day total of 299 worth $23,918.
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