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Last weekend was huge for fans in Hawaii.
Check back later for a post about two Major League Baseball draftees from Hilo High. But, first, in case you missed it, the biggest sports news buzzing in the 808 is about golf.
Allisen Corpuz, the former Punahou standout, captured a women’s golf major — the U.S. Open at the famed Pebble Beach course Sunday.
She’s the second from Hawaii to do it after Michelle Wie West won at Pinehurst in North Carolina in 2014.
And it just so happens that this very tournament over the weekend was Wie West’s final round of competitive golf. She is calling it a career after making an indelible mark on the women’s game — especially when she broke in as a youngster. And Wie West went out in grand fashion, sinking a 30-foot putt on her final hole.
Here’s a tweet acknowledging the two former Punahou students who are major winners:
Just a couple of major champions from Punahou School in Honolulu 🌺#USWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/4L8vJSGpq2
— LPGA (@LPGA) July 10, 2023
And Corpuz’s win Sunday prompted this tweet from former President Barack Obama, another Punahou graduate:
Congratulations to fellow Hawaiian Allisen Corpuz for winning the U.S. Women’s Open! You make us all proud — and look forward to a round at Kapolei! 🤙🏾
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 10, 2023
Interestingly, in 2008, Corpuz — who went on to star at USC — surpassed Wie’s mark (10 years, 9 months) to become the youngest (10 years, 3 months) to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Public Links championship.
Corpuz was on her game big-time Sunday, carding four rounds under par: 69-70-71-69 for a 9-under-par 279 and a three-stroke victory.
Here’s a tweet from the LPGA that by Monday afternoon had more than 100,000 views:
Champion of her national open 🇺🇸
Allisen Corpuz is the first American to win the #USWomensOpen since 2016 👏 pic.twitter.com/WDxC9Lt3y1
— LPGA (@LPGA) July 10, 2023
At Punahou, Corpuz had a storied high school career. One of her biggest highlights came in 2016 as a senior, when she finished ahead of teammate Mariel Galdiano for the state championship, denying the latter a four-peat.
And don’t forget, Wie West was a catalyst and role model for many Hawaii youngsters. She won five LPGA Tour tournaments, including that one major. And she was a national media sensation starting as a preteen. At age 12 in 2002, she was the youngest to qualify for an LPGA event, the Takefuji Classic here in Hawaii. Before that, at age 11, she won some big women’s tournaments locally.
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