Tarzana, California, United States: Rianne Malixi delivered a strong statement of intent with a resounding victory in the first round of match play at the 75th US Girls’ Junior Championship.
Beaten finalist last year, the 17-year-old from the Philippines won five of the first nine holes en route to eliminating American Annie Jin 6&5 at El Caballero Country Club.
“I hit a lot of good shots today, and putts just dropped. I’ve been very consistent, and I haven’t been feeling much pressure. I was just focusing on one shot at a time, playing the best way I know how,” said Malixi, who is committed to play for Duke University in 2025.
Malixi, now owner of a 7-2 US Girls’ Junior match play record, played the equivalent of six-under-par golf – with the usual concessions – over 13 holes to dispatch Jin, one of the three survivors from the eight-for-three play-off.
Malixi's only two match play defeats in the US Girls’ Junior are to 2021 champion Rose Zhang (Round of 32) and 2023 champion Kiara Romero (final).
In Thursday morning’s Round of 32, Malixi, 19th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) will take on American Kennedy Swedick, a four-time US Girls’ Junior participant who edged Remi Bacardi, a direct descendant of Facundo Bacardi, the founder of the well-known rum distillery, at the 20th hole.
Eight other players from the Asia-Pacific are joining Malixi in the Round of 32 – China’s Kinsley Ni Nixin, Japan’s Yuka Nishina and Isaki Sakashita, Hong Kong China duo Sophie Han and Arianna Lau, Indian Avani Prashanth, Korean Chanel Dangela and Thai Thanana Kotchasanmanee.
Among those to bow out in the Round of 64 were the Chinese quartet of Alice Zhao Ziyi, Grace Xu Zilin, Liu Yujie and seventh seed and 2023 US Women’s Open qualifier Kaili Xiao, and Australian Sarah Hammett.
Stroke play medallist and top seed Ni, who came up one stroke shy of matching the 36-hole championship stroke play mark after shooting an 11-under total of 131, advanced with a 3&2 triumph over 64th seed Cathy Zhang of America.
Dangela and Prashanth both required extra holes to progress. Chanel was one-up after 17 but lost the 18th to American Emma Wong before prevailing with a birdie at the 20th hole.
Prashanth won the 17th to square her match with Isabel Brozena but saw off her American opponent at the 19th.
While Han swept aside American Maye Huang 5&4, her compatriot Lau was made to sweat after seeing her four-up lead through 14 holes reduced to one after 17 by American Andee Avery. By halving the 18th in par, Lau edged through one-up.
One of the most intriguing match-ups in the Round of 32 will be the all-Japanese clash between Nishina and Sakashita.
Eleven countries were represented in match play. The US led the way with 45 competitors, while China had five, Canada four, and Japan and Hong Kong China with two apiece. Australia, India, Korea, Mexico, the Philippines and Thailand each had one representative.
