Southern Cal's Corpuz wins medalist; Pinehurst's Adam hangs tough

SCORES
MATCH PLAY BRACKET
It wasn’t the kick-in birdie she made on 18 that Allisen Corpuz wanted to talk about. Never mind that medalist honors for the 117th Women’s North & South Amateur were on the line when she and Amanda Doherty were both sitting safely in the fairway on Pinehurst No. 2’s closing hole.

No, the shot Corpuz pointed to as the highlight of her dazzling 68 on Tuesday led simply to a par on the third hole.

That was the one.

“I had been working on flop shots coming into this week, and on the third hole, I was right of the green in two and in trouble,” she said.

“But I pulled it off.”

Flop shots are not typically the plays of choice around Donald Ross’s famed turtleback greens, but Copuz, a senior at Southern Cal who played into the quarterfinals of the North & South a year ago, had everything going in a round that included five birdies as she cruised to what became a three-shot advantage in medal play over Doherty.

Corpuz will now advance to match play as the championship’s top seed of 32. The North & South will conclude on Friday afternoon.

“I’ve played well, and this obviously shows my game is in a good place,” said Corpuz, who made match play for the third straight year. “But, of course, anything can happen in match play.”

Playing in her first Women’s North & South, local phenom Nicole Adam came into the second round in sole possession of third after a 1-under 70 on Monday. Playing in the final grouping on Tuesday, the 17-year-old from Pinehurst acquitted herself well, making three birdies and battling back from a rough start to shoot 75 and finish comfortably inside the top 10.

Adam is the tournament’s No. 12 seed and will play 2018 North & South Runner-Up Gabi Ruffels in the Round of 32 on Wednesday. That match tees off on No. 2 at 7:56 a.m.

As usual, the Women’s North & South features one of the elite amateur fields of the year. A few other top players:

• Beth Wu is now a standout at UCLA, but in 2016, she was the top-ranked junior golfer in the world, and showed it on No. 2, advancing all the way to the final match, where she finished as the runner-up to champion Bailey Tardy. Wu had one of the best rounds on Tuesday, firing a 2-under 69 with four birdies to move into a share of fifth. She is the championship’s No. 5 seed.
• Gabi Ruffels, one of five Southern Cal players to make the field of match play with teammate Corpuz, was the runner-up to Stephanie Lau a year ago in the North & South. Ruffels had a solid 72 on Tuesday to finish tied for 20^th, good for the 21^st seed.
• Becky Kay, a top player from Australia who reached the semifinals a year ago, banged home a 40-foot putt for birdie on the 18^th, drawing applause from the gallery on the veranda to share fifth with Wu at 2 over the tournament. Kay has the No. 7 seed.
• Jennifer Chang, an All-American from Southern Cal who won four state championships while at Athens Drive High School in Raleigh, led for part of the round on Tuesday before finishing with an even par 71 to help her to a tie for third and the 3^rd seed.
• Duke rising star Gina Kim, who contended recently at the U.S. Women’s Open, also reached match play, shooting rounds of 73 and 75 to tie for 20^th and earn the No. 22 seed.

Defending champion Stephanie Lau struggled to a 79 in the second round to miss the cut by a shot. 2018 champion Isabella Fierro missed the cut by two shots.

After two rounds of stroke play, the 90-player field has been cut to the top 32 players, which have been seeded into a match play bracket. All match play rounds will be contested on Pinehurst No. 2, and the championship match is scheduled for Friday afternoon.