Hawaii’s Allisen Corpuz is once again in the mix heading into the weekend on the LPGA Tour, this time at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links. After opening with a 3-under 69 on Thursday, the 25-year-old carded a 2-under 70 on Friday that included two bogeys and four birdies, two of which came back-to-back on holes 3 and 4. She also grabbed birdies on No. 9, which is playing as one of the hardest holes through two rounds, and No. 16. Her two-day total of 137 is her lowest score in the first 36 holes of the U.S. Women’s Open in five total appearances, including this week.
Ahead of Pebble Beach, Corpuz was tied for third-most strokes gained total in the previous two major championships, gaining a combined 2.68 shots on the field at The Chevron Championship and KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, all while finishing T4 and T15, respectively. She credits her ball striking ability as the reason she performs well at such challenging major venues and will look to continue that with 36 holes left along the Cali coastline.
“I think I'm a really solid ball striker which I think you need on big courses like this,” said Corpuz, who hit 10 of 14 fairways and 11 of 18 greens on Friday. “Me and Jay (Monahan, her caddie) do a great job of just looking at the course and really being honest about where my game is at, what shots I do or don't have for the week, and putting together a really solid game plan according to that.”
Corpuz is a University of Southern California alumna and spent a lot of time playing courses similar to Pebble Beach during her days as a Trojan. Couple that with her experience playing in the wind derived from growing up in the Aloha State and Corpuz could be a threat to win her first major and LPGA Tour title over the weekend. For now though, as a player that’s run the gamut in USGA championships, she’s simply trying to enjoy this moment at the top of the leaderboard, no matter how long it lasts. And Corpuz is working hard to stay relaxed when she’s in contention and keep her nerves in check, something that could prove to be a tall order on this major stage.
“Any major is special to be somewhere near the top of the leaderboard,” said Corpuz, who has played in 19 total USGA events counting this week at Pebble. “The U.S. Open, as well, right, it's our country's major kind of. Really special, especially with it being out at Pebble this week.
“Just telling myself it's good to be nervous. Everyone else is. Kind of trying to step up to the moment and hit the shots just when it matters. I honestly still need to get a little more comfortable in contention. That’s been the focus this year, just trying to put myself into that spot and then hopefully learn how to convert as it keeps happening.”
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