EWA BEACH, Hawaii — Over the last two days, Allisen Corpuz showed herself just how far her game has come in a handful of years.
Corpuz, the only Hawaii native playing in the 2022 LPGA Lotte Championship, made the cut on Thursday by shooting even par 72 on another gusty day at Hoakalei Country Club. Overall, she stands at 2 under, eight shots off the lead set by Hyo-Joo Kim.
The last time Corpuz competed in the Lotte, she was an amateur – a senior at Punahou. She didn’t make the cut that time.
On Thursday, as she negotiated the wind, and plentiful water hazards and bunkers laid out by Ernie Els with smart, consistent golf, it was apparent that the USC alumna wouldn’t just sneak by the cut line, but leave no doubt that she’d make it to the weekend.
“Overall, going to college really helped with course management, like knowing on a day like today, when it’s so windy, being patient and hoping that opportunities will come and really trying to make par. Hopefully a couple birdies roll in,” Corpuz said of what has advanced in her game the most since her last Lotte appearance at Ko Olina Golf Club in 2016. “Hopefully a couple birdies roll in. That was a really big game-changer for me. And just being able to tighten every aspect of my game, from ball striking through to the putter.”
Corpuz went as low as 4 under overall before shooting bogeys on two of her last four holes in the twilight of the Ewa Plain. She is tied for 17th with seven others.
It was her second made cut in three events so far in her rookie season after the 24-year-old earned her tour card in December. Her best finish to date is a tie for 30th at the Drive On Championship at Crown Colony in February.
“This one’s definitely really special to make the cut at home,” Corpuz said. “It means a lot that I’ll be playing the weekend this year.”
Hyo-Joo Kim of South Korea has the lead at 10 under after matching her first-round score of 5-under 67. She has yet to card a bogey this week and is three shots clear of Australian Sarah Kemp.
“I think when it's windy, (the) front nine course (is) affected by wind more than back nine,” Kim said. “So I think I had a little luck that the wind blew in my back nine.”
Corpuz caught fire in the middle of her round despite strong gusts of wind, birdieing No. 18 going into the turn as she started her afternoon round on the course’s back nine. She nailed putts of 12-plus feet on Nos. 3 and 5 and nearly put in another from short range on No. 4. On 4, a signature hole, she hit over the water to within about a foot of an ace before the ball rolled a few feet past. She called that stretch, with the short par 4 on No. 3 and a par 5 on No. 5, “really gettable.”
Brooke Henderson, the only repeat winner in the event’s history (2018, 2019), withdrew from the tournament before her round Thursday due to illness.
The only remaining past champion in the field is the defending champ, Lydia Ko. But Ko was unable to replicate her 3-under score from Wednesday's first round, going 3 over on Thursday to sit in a tie for 33rd.
“Just trying to take the positives, and then … just go from there,” Ko said. “I feel like I've played worse and scored better. It was just one of those days like where I didn't play that bad but I also just couldn't score.”
Corpuz tees off her third round at 10:18 a.m. Friday with Min Lee and Hannah Green. The leaders group of Kim, Kemp and Ariya Jutanugarn goes out at 11:35.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.