PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Standing on the dais next to a trophy so big and shiny it practically overwhelmed her, Allisen Corpuz told assembled scribes that she never really thought she’d get this far.
No one watching, however, would ever guess it. Not given the way Corpuz calmly went about her business on one of the most historic weeks in the game, where the largest paycheck in women’s golf wasn’t even the biggest headline.
This was bigger than money; it was a chance at history. A chance to stand on the shoulders of the giants in the game who came before and claim the honor of being the first woman to win a major championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links, an American treasure that’s breathtaking in its beauty and brawn.
“My coach told me this morning, no one is going to give it to you,” said Corpuz, who calmy went out on a sun-splashed day and took it from a horde of chasers.
Corpuz joins the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Tom Watson as major winners at Pebble Beach. In a week when fellow Punahou School grad Michelle Wie West retired from competitive golf, Corpuz said aloha to the world.
The 25-year-old USC grad now in her second year on tour, came into the week 29th in the world but largely overlooked. She ended the week with a congratulatory tweet from former President Barack Obama, who also requested a tee time.
May Corpuz walked nervously down the famed 18th fairway late Sunday evening, praying as she clutched a water bottle. She sat down inconspicuously below the gallery rope as her youngest child made her way up the fairway with a three-shot lead.
There was no reason to fret. Corpuz smoothly parred the last hole to secure a three-shot victory and a $2 million check. A packed grandstand broke out in chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” as Corpuz, a Hawaii native of South Korean and Filipino descent, became the first American to hoist the U.S. Women’s Open trophy since Brittany Lang in 2016.
After getting off to a hot start with two birdies in the first three holes, Corpuz was put on the clock on No. 11. Her caddie, Jay Monahan, candidly noted after the round that the timing was particularly brutal given that he had to go to the bathroom.
On the par-4 13th, Corpuz was between a 5-iron and 6-iron on her approach, and with 5-iron in hand, the wind died down and she backed off. At that point, a rules official approached to say that if she received another bad time, she’d get a one-stroke penalty. Because the LPGA typically hands out fines, Monahan turned around and asked, “We get stroked if we get another one?”
“I think she heard me say that,” said Monahan, who could feel the tension rise.
After his boss two-putted for par, however, Monahan said he was eerily calm the rest of the day.
Book your trip to Pebble Beach today“I’ve had a few instances in the past where I kind of let that get to me,” said Corpuz of being put on the clock. “Obviously not happy about it, but just kind of rushed things a little and didn’t hit a good shot. I told myself, that’s just kind of how the course plays sometimes. You have a tough hole, you fall behind. I just told myself that we’d catch up later and just stay calm, just keep doing everything at the same pace.”
All week – really since she joined the LPGA – Corpuz has been telling herself that she belongs here, that she’s good enough to compete. Earlier this year in Singapore, she found herself paired with the top two players in the world – Jin Young Ko and Nelly Korda – in the final round. While she didn’t win the tournament, Corpuz closed with a 69 and for the first time felt really comfortable in that position.
When the stakes rise, Corpuz finds that she often starts to get too quick. Taking time to look at the bigger picture, she said, helps her to keep things slow and steady.
“Every few holes,” said Corpuz, “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.’ ”
She closed with a 3-under 69 to beat a hard-charging Charley Hull (66) and former No. 1 Jiyai Shin (68) by three strokes. She was the only player in the field to card four rounds under par, playing Pebble’s demanding final 11-hole stretch in 1 under.
Corpuz grew up on Oahu on the left side of the seventh hole on Kapolei Golf Course and took up the game with her older brother George around age 4 or 5. At age 6, she told her father, Marcos, “If you want me to play golf, don’t scold me.”
Marcos, a dentist, and May were not overbearing parents, but even at such a young age, Corpuz knew that she was intrinsically motivated to get better. No one needed to push her.
Mary Bea Porter-King a former LPGA player who helped found the Hawaii State Golf Association, said Allisen was about 7 years old when she first came to her junior program. She was no-nonsense even then, too.
“She was quietly strong and very gracious, always very gracious,” said Porter-King.
When asked by the media what made her fall in love with the game at young age, Corpuz gave an amusingly honest answer: “Honestly, I sucked. I just wanted to get better. I think that’s just kind of who I am, like as a person. Just if something can be done better, that’s how I want to do it.”
In 2008, Corpuz surpassed Wie West as the youngest to ever qualify for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links at 10 years, 3 months and 9 days. Comparisons naturally followed.
“I’ve never really compared myself to her,” said Corpuz. “I’ve always wanted to make my own name. “She’s just served as a really big inspiration.”
Corpuz did follow in her father’s footsteps to USC, where she stayed an extra year to obtain a Master’s degree in Global Supply Chain Management and a graduate certificate in Business Analytics.
There’s no doubt that Corpuz’s strongest asset is her mind.
Now, she can finally let it rest. She’s made history.
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