Three weeks after missing the cut trying to defend her U.S. Women’s Open title, Allisen Corpuz is back in the hunt in a major championship.
The Punahou alumna carded a 2-under 70 to sit in a tie for fourth place, two shots back of solo leader Lexi Thompson after the first round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on Thursday at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash.
Corpuz, who teed off in the afternoon wave on No. 10, recorded her only bogey on the par-4 14th. She answered it with a birdie on 15 and added another on the par-5 18th to make the turn at 1 under.
She played her final 13 holes bogey-free and recorded a birdie on the par-5 sixth hole to end as one of 11 golfers at 2 under par.
“Played pretty solid throughout the whole round,” Corpuz said. “There was just a few par-4s I think that played pretty tough just with the distance. Luckily hit it pretty straight today, hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens, but it does feel like a course where once you’re out of position, it is pretty tough to get back on track.”
Corpuz missed only two fairways and hit 14 of 18 greens in regulation.
Her lone bogey came when she put her approach on 14 into a left side bunker, where she couldn’t get up and down from.
Her second shot on the next hole from 171 yards nestled to 3 feet from the hole for a birdie, and she made a 6-footer for birdie on 18.
“Still kind of working on going on the birdie streaks, but I feel like weeks like this where par is always going to be a good score, I’m just pretty good at just staying calm,” Corpuz said. “Just kind of playing it a little safer.”
Corpuz, who is ranked 23rd in the Rolex Rankings of the top female golfers in the world, finished in a tie for fifth place at the Meijer LPGA Classic last week after missing the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open.
It was her best finish of the season and her 10th career top-10 on the LPGA Tour.
“I really came into the year trying not to set the expectations. I think it still happened anyways,” Corpuz said. “It feels like the game has been coming around. It definitely feels like it’s in a good spot now. Just always trying to get better.”
Kaiser alumna Malia Nam, who was college teammates with Corpuz at Southern California, has an opportunity to make the cut at Sahalee this week after shooting a 2-over 74 in the opening round to sit in a tie for 53rd place.
She birdied two of her first six holes and was at even par at the turn when she bogeyed Nos. 10 and 11. She finished the day with seven straight pars.
Nam missed the cut in four consecutive events before finishing tied for 62nd last week. She has made the weekend three times this season on the LPGA Tour, with her best finish a tie for 22nd place in March.
Corpuz will tee off in today’s second round at 4:38 a.m., while Nam is set to go off at 11:23 a.m.
