Minjee Lee signed off her US Women’s Open defence in style as three Aussies finished inside the top 15 at the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links in California.

Hawaiian native Allisen Corpuz was nerveless in a final round of 3-under 69, coming from one stroke back to record a three-stroke win and claim her first victory on the LPGA Tour.

Tied for ninth and eight strokes back entering the final round, Lee needed a final round reminiscent of her Evian Championship win in 2021 to be any chance of emulating Karrie Webb in winning back-to-back US Women’s Open titles.

A bogey at the par-5 second made that prospect even tougher and nine straight pars meant that any charge would fail to eventuate.

The 27-year-old suffered an unlucky break when she missed the fairway right at the par-5 14th, forced to chop out sideways on her way to the first of two straight bogeys.

But, as champions often do, Lee gave the crowd a moment to savour on 18, holing a birdie putt from just inside 11 feet to end her defence in style at the 72nd hole.

Lee’s final round of 3-over 75 and 4-over total saw her finish level with fellow Aussies Hannah Green (69) and Grace Kim (71) in a tie for 13th.

Green holed a 22-foot putt for eagle at the par-5 sixth and was 4-under on her round after making birdies at 12 and 15 but a tee shot that went left onto the rocky outcrop led to a bogey at the 72nd hole.

After making the cut on the number, Kim posted consecutive rounds of 1-under 71 over the weekend to record her best finish in a major championship.

Fourteenth two weeks ago at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Kim went one better on Sunday courtesy of birdies at one, six, nine and 13.

The 22-year-old was tracking for a top-10 finish until back-to-back bogeys at 15 and 16 saw her drop to 4-over for the championship.

Gabriela Ruffels endured a roller-coaster final round, making seven bogeys and two birdies in a round of 5-over 77 to finish tied for 33rd.

There was a strong Australian presence too at the LET Access Series event in Sweden.

Kelsey Bennett continued her strong start to her first season in Europe with a tie for 16th at the Capio Ogon Trophy, South Australian Kristalle Blum three shots further back in a tie for 36th.

Results
US Women’s Open
Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, California
1             Allisen Corpuz    69-70-71-69—279            $US2m
T13        Minjee Lee          72-73-72-75—292            $170,020
T13        Hannah Green    76-71-76-69—292            $170,020
T13        Grace Kim            74-76-71-71—292            $170,020
T33        Lydia Ko (NZ)      76-71-74-75—296            $49,649
T33        Gabriela Ruffels 78-71-70-77—296            $49,649
MC         Amelia Garvey (NZ)          78-75—153
MC         Maddison Hinson-Tolchard (a)     78-80—158

LET Access Series
Capio Ogon Trophy
Upsala GolfKlubb, Sweden
1             Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen  73-72-70–215     €6,400
T16        Kelsey Bennett                 73-72-76–221     €828
T29        Hanee Song (NZ)              77-73-73–223     €576
T36        Kristalle Blum                   75-72-77–224     €512

Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images