Corpuz Dominates Final Day of U.S. Women's Open

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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Allisen Corpuz picked a good time to play what was, all things considered, the best round of her life. 

Starting Sunday's final round of the U.S. Women's Open in second place, one shot out of first, Corpuz birdied two of the first three holes at the iconic Pebble Beach Golf Links and never relinquished her spot at the top of the leaderboard. On the biggest day of her life, so far, the 25-year-old from Hawaii didn't seem at all rattled by the occasion, even though she hadn't won before in a season and a half on the LPGA Tour. She hit the shots she needed to hit, made the putts she needed to make -- especially her putt to save par on the 12th hole -- and put together a 3-under-69. That gave her a 72-hole total of 279 (9 under) and a three-stroke victory over Charley Hull and Jiyai Shin. 

Corpus is the first American to win the U.S. national championship since Hilary (Homeyer) Lunke emerged victorious from a three-way playoff  in the Open 20 years ago. 

For the effort, Corpuz received the largest first-place check in the history of women's golf -- $2 million -- and she is now No. 1 on the LPGA money list, with $2,481,309 in 13 events.

Nasa Hataoka, 24, was the 54-hole leader after a Saturday 66, and she was favored to take home the trophy on Sunday. After all, she's won six times on the LPGA Tour, not to mention the Japan Women's Open (which she won when she was 17), and she's been the runner-up twice in major championships. She didn't get off to a great start in the final round and was 1 over after three holes, but she birdied the par-5 sixth and was tied with Corpuz -- at 7 under for the tournament -- when they made the turn. 

Corpuz, who bogeyed the ninth hole, regained sole possession of the lead with a birdie at the 10th, and you could argue that she put one hand firmly on the trophy at the 175-yard, par-3 12th. She got in trouble when her tee shot didn't clear the front bunker, and left her with a fried-egg lie in the sand. Hataoka was on the green in one, 40 feet away. Advantage Hataoka.

Corpuz hit a good shot from her ugly lie in the bunker, but was still 16 feet away from the cup, and the former USC All-American hadn't made a putt that long in the first 65 holes of the tournament. But she made the par putt at the 12th, and Hataoka three-putted for a bogey.

Suddenly, instead of being tied with Hataoka, or only one ahead, Corpuz was in front by two.

That exchange seemed to take the wind out of Hataoka's sails. She bogeyed three more holes on the way in, shot 40 on the back nine, signed for a 76 and ended up in a tie for fourth at 285, along with the surprise contender of the week, Bailey Tardy.

The main challenger to Corpuz coming down the stretch, as it turned out, was Charley Hull, a 27-year-old from England who, like Corpuz, is a former golfing prodigy. Corpuz, among other things qualified for the U.S. Women's Public Links Championship when she was 10 years old, thus breaking Michelle Wie's record  for being the youngest Publinx qualifier. Hull was the youngest member of the European Solheim Cup team in 2013, when she was 17, by which time she had already racked up 10 top-10 finishes on the Ladies European Tour.

On Sunday, Hull began the day seven shots off the lead, but she got her round going in the right direction quickly, with an eagle at the par-5 second hole, and she followed that with birdies at the third and fourth holes. She bogeyed the par-3 fifth, but then knocked her second shot onto the green at the up-over-a-cliff, 496-yard, par-5 sixth hole and two-putted for another birdie. Having shot 32 (4 under) on the front nine, she birdied the 10th and 11th holes. By then, she had made more than 100 feet worth of putts, but she missed her par putt at the 13th. She made one more birdie, at the 16th, which got her to 6 under for the tournament -- and within two shots of Corpuz.

But Corpuz, playing a couple of holes behind Hull, hit a 75-yard wedge shot to within 10 feet at the par-5 14th and converted the putt for a birdie, and then hit a 9-iron close at the 15th and cashed in on that birdie putt, as well.

"I think," she would say later, "that was the moment when I kind of knew like I just need to get home."

Hull parred the 175-yard, par-3 17th, where the shape and firmness of the green made it nearly impossible to get close to the hole with your tee shot. At the par-5 18th, she was in the seaside -- oceanside? -- bunker in two, 35 yards from the green, but she couldn't get up and down for her birdie. Even so, she had the low round of the day, a 66, and that put her at 282. 

No one really seemed to notice Shin while Hull was giving chase to Corpuz, but that's basically the story of Shin's career. She's won 64 times as a professional, but she never seems to get much attention, mainly because she has spent most of her time on the Korean LPGA Tour. She hadn't played in the U.S. for four years before she teed it up at Pebble Beach. On Sunday, she went about her business almost anonymously, as usual, making seven pars and two birdies on the front nine. She made her only bogey of the day at the 10th, but came right back with a birdie at the 11th. And while most of the other contenders were slip-sliding backwards, from 5 under to 4 under, to 3 under, to 2 under, she kept going in the other direction. She got to 5 under with a birdie at the 14th, and she quietly capped off her 68 with a birdie at the 18th.

That made her trip to California very profitable. She and Hull made $969,231 each for their shares of second place, and that moved Hill up to No. 4 on the LPGA money list. 

The player who made the biggest move on the money list was Tardy, the LPGA rookie who had made only $37,428 in 10 events before she arrived on the Montery Peninsula. She was No. 130 on the money list. 

Tardy, 26, a former Georgia All-American, had to qualify for the Open. That meant coming from Georgia to the Twin Cities, mainly because she kept putting off entering the tournament, and by the time she did enter, there were only two qualifying sites that weren't full -- St. Louis and Mendota Heights. She shot 69-71--140 at Somerset CC, but missed a short putt on the 18th hole of the second round, and thought she'd missed getting the second -- and last -- spot in the qualifier by a single stroke. But a late three-putt by another player got Tardy into a playoff for the second spot, and she won it with a birdie on the fourth extra hole.

One of the longest hitters on the LPGA Tour, Tardy took advantage of her length and eagled the sixth hole in each of the first two rounds, while shooting 69 and 68. That made her the 36-hole leader. Dealing with a very difficult course, U.S. Open pressure and a balky putter, she slipped back in the standings during the weekend, but she hung in there pretty well. And she played the last eight holes in 1 under par on the way to a valedictory 73, and the fourth-place tie with Hataoka at 285.

The $482,136 that she earned for the week was more than 12 times what she had made previously, and it moved her up exaclty 100 places on the money list, to No. 30. And by finishing in the top 10, she guaranteed herself a place in next year's Women's Open, which will be played at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania. 

"I actually had no idea that was a thing," Tardy admitted after signing her card. "I walked iinto the scoring tent, and Liz said, 'You don't have to play in another qualifier.' So that's definitely a bonus for sure."   



U.S. Women's Open

At Pebble Beach Golf Links

Par 72, 6,546 yards

Pebble Beach, Calif. 

Final results 

1. Allisen Corpuz                    $2,000,000     69-70-71-69--279 (-9)

T2. Charliey Hull                        $969,231     73-72-71-66--282

T2. Jiyai Shin                             $969,231     71-73-70-68--282

T4. Nasa Hataoka                     $482,136      69-74-66-76--285

T4. Bailey Tardy                       $482,136      69-68-75-73--285

T6. Hyo Joo Kim                        $369,403      68-71-73-74--286

T6. Ayaka Furure                        $369,403     74-70-73-69--286 

8. Hae Ran Ryu                          $313,713      69-72-73-74--288

T9. Rose Zhang                          $272,355.     74-71-72-72--289

T9. Maja Stark                             $272,355      72-73-72-72--289

11. Ally Ewing                              $237,993.     73-73-76-68--290

12. Brooke Henderson.               $220,050.      71-75-73-72--291

Missed cut -- 150 

Amy Olson                                                        79-77--156