Allisen Corpuz's fatigue from winning USWO helping her into contention at Dana Open
It's been a hectic week for Allisen Corpuz. Yet, she's staring at another victory just days after her life-changing triumph.
Halfway through the Dana Open in Sylvania, Ohio, the 25-year-old is bogey-free, T-2 and two shots off the lead, nearly 2,500 miles from Pebble Beach, where she won the U.S. Women's Open on Sunday for her maiden LPGA title.
"I think tired is an understatement of probably how [Corpuz] is," Lydia Ko, who was Corpuz's playing partner in Rounds 1 and 2, said Friday. "No matter if you played two days or make the cut and play four or you win, it's a long week. And if you win it or especially if you're in contention, it's an even longer week. I'm sure everybody probably wants a piece of her and she probably hasn't had much time to herself. But she's played, she played great. I don't think you would know that she's just come off a — I mean, obviously, you know that she's got good momentum, but you don't see any of that fatigue."
Full-field scores from the Dana Open
Corpuz hasn't gotten much sleep since her major triumph. Leaving California was quite the whirlwind and she arrived in Ohio at 4 a.m. on Tuesday. Later that day, she did a plethora of media obligations, saying it felt like they were "every hour." Then, on Wednesday, Corpuz only played nine holes in the pro-am at Highland Meadows Golf Club.
"Really just prioritizing rest this week," said Corpuz, who sits at 9 under overall following rounds of 67-66. "Especially after such a long week last week. Nothing really changed too much. Just practiced a lot less. Just trying to get some rest. But, no, just focusing on the same things that I've been working on."
The exhaustion, however, may actually be benefitting Corpuz this week.
"I think, honestly, the fatigue has kind of helped with the nerves a bit," she said.
Corpuz, though, will have some downtime coming up.
"I'm planning on taking next week off," she said when asked if she considering withdrawing from this week's field. "That's been planned for a while. So, no. If I had been playing (next week) I probably would have considered it a little harder. But, no, just out here to have another solid week.
And despite a chaotic and taxing few days, Corpuz is in the mix for the ultimate encore to her U.S. Women's Open victory.
