Allisen Corpuz shot to global fame when she won the 2023 US Women’s Open for her first professional victory, and her caddie is also a name familiar to golf fans.
Her bagman is Jay Monahan but not the commissioner of the PGA Tour, rather the husband of one of her rivals. Monahan, a former professional golfer, is married to Corpuz’s fellow LPGA player Jennifer Kupcho. He met Kupcho at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club in Arizona when he caddied for her and they tied the knot in February 2022 after Monahan proposed to the LPGA golfer the previous summer.
Kupcho credits her husband with improving her putting and they famously celebrated her win at the LPGA Chevron Championship - just two months after getting married - jumping in the water together, along with very own caddie David Eller.
But Kupcho’s other half plays arguably an even more important role assisting Hawaii-born Corpuz, 25, after meeting the LPGA Tour rookie during her college days. She was in search of a knowledgeable caddie at the time and paired up with Monahan.
“I was just looking for someone for the Drive On [LPGA Drive On Championship] because I wasn’t in that field until the Thursday before. I texted a caddie at Q-School if he was available and he wasn’t and he connected me to Jay Monahan.” said Corpuz.
Corpuz turned professional in 2021 and finished T16 at Q-School to earn LPGA Tour membership for 2022. During her first season, she made 17 of 21 cuts and finished 41st in the overall rankings.
Monahan has been by her side during her rise and is credited with playing a huge role in her success. Corpuz said: “Me and Jay do a great job of just looking at the course and really being honest about where my game is at, what shots I do or don’t have for the week, and putting together a really solid game plan according to that.”
But their intensity about their work doesn’t stop them enjoying their surroundings together - even at Pebble Beach in the heat of the US Open.
Corpuz said: "At Pebble, the first few days it was a little cloudy. Me and Jay were talking about how beautiful it was and then we caught some blue skies over the weekend and then it was even more beautiful.”
Their working relationship seems to be characterised by a similar calm approach featuring an occasional fist bump or smile rather than huge public shows of emotion.
But that is typical of the understated businesslike approach of Corpuz who has kept her feet firmly on the ground since famously breaking fellow Punahou School alum Michelle Wie West’s record as the youngest player to qualify for the US Amateur Public Links when she enjoyed a stellar amateur career.
