New York, United States: Teenage prodigy Rianne Mikhaela Malixi is turning heads at the 121st US Women’s Amateur Championship.
At the age of 14, Malixi, from the Philippines, was the youngest of the 64 match play qualifiers at Westchester Country Club, posting a 36-hole stroke play total of 149.
When she was drawn to face seventh-seeded American Allysha Mae Mateo in the Round of 64, few expected Malixi to progress any further.
Undaunted by her opponent, Malixi matched the Hawaiian blow-for-blow. All square after 18 holes, it was Malixi who kept her nerves in check to prevail at the first extra hole.
Her reward is a meeting with Colombian Valery Plata in the Round of 32.
Six other representatives from the Asia-Pacific will also be in action on Thursday after winning their opening match play contests.
Emily Mahar defeated fellow-Australian Maddison Hinson-Tolchard, while their compatriot Grace Kim edged past Canadian Celeste Dao one-up.
Two players from mainland China also made it through – Sophie Guo Yixian and Cindy Xin Kou. Both triumphed 3 and 2 over American opponents.
There were also success for Thai Kan Bunnabodee (one-up over American Alyson Bean), and Chinese Taipei’s Hou Yu-chiang (3 and 2 against Italian Alessia Nobilio).
Failing to make it through the Round of 64 were Thai Suthavee Chanachai, leader after the first round of stroke play, and Malaysians Audrey Tan and Alyaa Abdulghany, a semi-finalist in 2020 and number six seed here.
There was also disappointment for Chinese Taipei’s Huang Ting-hsuan who pushed American Emilia Migliaccio to extra holes, eventually losing out on the 22nd hole of an epic clash on what proved to be a day of shocks which saw defending champion Rose Zhang and seven of the top eight seeds, including medallist Rachel Kuehn, being eliminated.
Elle Nachmann, a sophomore who carries a 4.0 GPA in the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, rallied to defeat Zhang, the number one player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking, one-up.
Hours earlier, University of Kentucky junior Marissa Wenzler, who survived a 12-for-two play-off late on Tuesday afternoon just to get into the match play draw, ousted Wake Forest All-American Kuehn, one-up. It was the fifth time since 2010 that the number one seed has failed to advance out of the Round of 64.
The upsets didn’t end there. Wenzler’s Kentucky team-mate, Jensen Castle, who earned the other spot in the play-off, ousted number two seed Kennedy Pedigo, 3 and 2.
A couple of notables did prevail, including world number two and reigning NCAA champion Rachel Heck, who had the day’s biggest margin of victory, a 7-and-5 decision over Karen Tsuru. The dubious honour of facing Heck in the Round of 32 falls on Australian Kim.