Allisen Corpuz wins US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach for her first LPGA title

Allisen Corpuz poses with her parents after winning the US Women's Open golf tournament at the Pebble Beach Golf Links, Sunday in Pebble Beach, California. (AP)
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Updated 10 July 2023
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Allisen Corpuz wins US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach for her first LPGA title

  • Corpuz won by three shots over Charley Hull (66) and Jiyai Shin (68) and claimed the $2 million prize
  • Former President Barack Obama was among the first to congratulate the 25-year-old from Hawaii on Twitter

PEBBLE BEACH, California: Allisen Corpuz became the first American in 20 years to make the US Women’s Open her first LPGA title, closing with a 3-under 69 on Sunday and handling her historic moment at Pebble Beach as if she had been there before.

Corpuz, a 25-year-old from Hawaii, pulled away with a big par putt and back-to-back birdies on the back nine to enjoy the most scenic walk in golf up the 18th fairway, the Pacific Ocean on her left and her place secured as the first US Women’s Open champion at Pebble Beach.

She won by three shots over Charley Hull (66) and Jiyai Shin (68) and claimed the $2 million prize, the richest ever for an LPGA major champion.

Corpuz was so calm and cool on the grandest stage in women’s golf, regardless of the shot or the circumstances, until reality began to set in down the 18th, the same path walked by Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods, all Open champions at Pebble Beach.

When she tapped in for par, she covered her smile with her hand and wiped tears away with her Aloha-print towel.

“Unreal,” Corpuz said. “This week has felt like a dream come true. It’s been really awesome to be at Pebble Beach this week. Every few holes I kind of looked out and thought, ‘I’m here at Pebble. There’s not many places better than this.’”

Former President Barack Obama was among the first to congratulate her on Twitter. Both went to Punahou School in Honolulu.

“You make us all proud — and look forward to a round at Kapolei!,” Obama tweeted.

Hilary Lunke in 2003 at Pumpkin Ridge was the last American to get her first win at the US Women’s Open, that one in a three-way Monday playoff.

Corpuz, who finished at 9-under 279, was the only player to break par all four days.

Corpuz never gave anyone much of a chance. Nasa Hataoka lost her one-shot lead on the opening hole when Corpuz hit her approach to 5 feet for birdie, and the 24-year-old from Japan dropped too many shots down the home stretch.

They were tied at the turn until Corpuz hit her approach to just inside 10 feet for birdie on the 10th. The key moment came at the par-3 12th, when Corpuz hit her approach short into the bunker and had 15 feet for par. Hataoka rolled her birdie putt from the fringe 5 feet by the hole. Corpuz made her par, Hataoka missed her putt and the lead was at two.

It only got larger, Corpuz stretching it to four shots with superb wedges to 8 feet on the par-5 14th and 4 feet on the 15th, both birdies that made the final act a battle for second place.

Hull, who started the final round seven shots behind, closed to within two shots early on the back nine and stayed in the game with a 30-foot birdie putt on the 16th. Only later did she realize Corpuz was pulling away. Hull kept firing, hitting 3-wood from under the cypress tree in the middle of the 18th fairway and nearly pulling it off.

“Shy kids don’t get sweets,” she told herself on the 18th before lashing away and dropping to a knee to watch its flight.

Shin made a birdie on the 18th to join Hull as a runner-up.

Hataoka, whose 66 on Saturday was nearly nine shots better than the field, had a 40 on the back nine and tied for fourth with Bailey Tardy, the 36-hole leader who went 75-73 on the weekend for her best finish in her LPGA rookie season.

But this moment was all about Corpuz. She joined Michelle Wie West as the only major champions from Hawaii — Wie West won the Women’s Open at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014 and played her final major this week at Pebble Beach.

They are not close except for their high school (Punahou) and education — Wie West graduated from Stanford, Corpuz got a business degree and an MBA from USC — and their early start.

Corpuz broke Wie West’s record as the youngest player to qualify for the US Women’s Amateur Public Links as a 10-year-old. This was her 19th USGA championship. She knows the USGA formula of fairways and greens, and loads of patience.

She is built for this, especially given her concentration that not even a gorgeous day on the Monterey Peninsula could crack.

Officiating behind the fifth green was Mary Bea Porter King, the pioneer of junior golf in Hawaii and one of the most influential figures in the game. Corpuz first came into the Hawaii junior program at age 7.

“She’s always been calm, cool and ... I won’t say serious, but she just plodded along. She was sort of a giant killer,” Porter King said. “I don’t think she was fearful of anything.”

That much was obvious at Pebble Beach, which had enough wind to be challenging as ever. Only seven players finished under par.

Rose Zhang, who dominated the amateur scene and then won her first LPGA Tour start as a pro, never got on track and closed with a 72 to tie for ninth. She now has top 10s in both majors as a pro, though this time she was never in the mix.


Lowry and Elvira share halfway lead at Dubai Invitational

Shane Lowry leads the Dubai Invitational after two days of play. (Supplied)
Updated 16 January 2026
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Lowry and Elvira share halfway lead at Dubai Invitational

  • Irishman Lowry began the day 3 shots behind Grand Slam champion Rory McIlroy before finishing with 68

DUBAI: Shane Lowry and Nacho Elvira both produced brilliant rounds of 68 in windy conditions to earn a two-shot lead at the 2026 Dubai Invitational.

The Irishman began the day three shots behind good friend and Grand Slam champion Rory McIlroy, but some stunning iron play and clutch putting saw him overhaul his playing partner.

Lowry is aiming to secure his first DP World Tour title since winning the 2022 BMW PGA Championship and he showcased his quality with five birdies and two bogeys.

Spaniard Elvira surged into contention thanks to four birdies in his final six holes for a matching 68 — the best rounds of the day — to set the clubhouse target of five under.

Having been joined at the summit of the leaderboard earlier in the day, McIlroy regained his one-shot advantage when he birdied the third to reach six under.

That lead was briefly extended to two when Antoine Rozner’s early birdie burst was offset by a double bogey, but McIlroy dropped a shot at the sixth.

A skewed chip left a difficult par putt for McIlroy to save par at the ninth and when it slid by, he was in a two-way tie for the lead at four under.

In the group ahead, Lawrence carded back-to-back birdies at the fourth and fifth — the latter with a sumptuous hole-out from the bunker — to join that mark.

Lowry opened with birdie-birdie for the second day running and despite a bogey at the fifth, he picked up the shot at the very next hole. A bogey at the ninth saw him slip back one, but he responded immediately with a lovely birdie putt at the 10th to rejoin the lead.

None of the trio could jump ahead on their own as they reached the turn, which saw Armitage increase the leadership group to four.

The Englishman, who started on the back nine, mixed two birdies and two bogeys during his front nine and then picked up shots at the second and fourth to reach the summit.

However, by the time McIlroy and Lowry finished the 14th hole, the latter was in the sole lead.

Lawrence had bogeyed the same par-three hole, Armitage dropped a shot at the ninth — his last — and McIlroy found the water at the 14th as the trio slipped back to three under.

That left Lowry on his own at the top. He was briefly joined by Elvira and McIlroy when the latter rolled in a 46-foot putt at the 16th for birdie, but Lowry followed suit from 31 feet to maintain his one-shot lead at five under.

McIlroy found the water for the fourth time at the 17th as he finished with back-to-back bogeys to sit three behind the joint leaders.

“Very happy (with the round),” said Lowry. “It was hard. It was tricky. You know, like that putt on the last hole, you don’t hole a lot of putts like that, and I did well. I did a good job. A couple sloppy mistakes on the front nine, but I was playing good and giving myself chances.

“I just had a great day out there. I really enjoyed it. I had a great group. Two great amateurs, and playing golf in a good frame of mind makes it a little bit easier. That’s sort of a little lesson for me for the rest season. If I play golf like that for the rest season in that frame of mind, I’ll be pretty good.”

Elvira had carded three bogeys and two birdies during his first 12 holes, but his birdie blitz to complete his second round propelled into the share of the lead with Lowry.

“I feel like off the tee I hit it really well,” said Elvira. “That’s something I struggled with in the past, and we made a couple changes, and I think it’s paying off. So, I’m very happy with the way I’m hitting it off the tee. It’s putting me in good positions to take advantage.”

Armitage and Spain’s David Puig were tied for third at three under, while McIlroy, Lawrence, Rozner and Spain’s Angel Ayora were one shot further back at two under.

American Ryggs Johnston recorded the first hole-in-one of 2026 when he aced the 218-yard par-three eighth with a six iron.

In the team competition, Jimmy Dunne, who was paired with Lowry, leads the way on 12 under, one stroke ahead of Greg Mondre and Dante Jimenez.