Allisen Corpuz and Lilia Vu may have gone to rival universities, but the two are anything but unfriendly. Vu, a former UCLA Bruin, and Corpuz, a graduate of the University of Southern California, are two of 14 players in this week’s Palos Verdes Championship presented by Bank of America field who hail from both colleges and are good friends. Both have plentiful experience at Palos Verdes Golf Club – Vu won the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in 2018 with a score of 1-under par, and Corpuz’s best finish in the event was T13 in 2019. The duo is among 51 total players who have competed in the collegiate tournament, and now they’ll look ahead to playing in the second-straight event on Tour in the Los Angeles area.
“I think this is the event I probably played the most because I played it as an individual my freshman year and made the travel team the following years, and then we had Pac-12s out here two years ago,” said Corpuz, a 2022 LPGA Tour rookie. “It's just such a beautiful golf course, and I'm really excited for this week.”
Corpuz and Vu have both been in good form as of late. Former Trojan Corpuz is coming off her second consecutive top 20 finish, after a T18 result in her native Hawaii at the LOTTE Championship and a tie for 17th at last week’s DIO Implant LA Open. Vu, a 2019 rookie who is the reigning Epson Tour Player of the Year after three victories in 2021, netted her career-best finish on Tour (T8) at the JTBC Classic presented by Barbasol, and earned a top-10 (T10) in LA.
“I think when I was a rookie in 2019 I came in with a really different mindset, more like every shot is life or death. I felt a lot of pressure coming in,” said Vu, who almost left the game of golf behind after grinding through her first year on Tour. “And then going back to Epson and getting confidence coming out of there, I just feel a lot freer on the LPGA Tour right now. I think that confidence that I built over the years has really helped me.”
Though familiar with the course, Vu and Corpuz are both adapting once again to PVGC, both citing the elevation changes and the switched nines among some of the challenges this week. But they’re hoping their history competing here means a little luck may swing their way.
“I think it's a great venue for the LPGA Tour,” said Corpuz. “I'm really excited to get out there this week.”
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