Tarzana, California, United States: Recently crowned 2024 US Girls’ Junior champion Rianne Malixi will be competing against the world’s best female professional golfers next year.
The 17-year-old from the Philippines will make a return visit to El Caballero Country Club as a sponsor exemption for the 2025 JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro, Los Angeles’ signature LPGA Tour event, taking place April 14-20. It will be her maiden appearance on the LPGA Tour.
At last month’s US Girls’ Junior at El Caballero Country Club, a sponsor exemption to the JM Eagle LA Championship was on the line for the winner of the championship.
Malixi, who has verbally committed to Duke University for 2025, avenged her one-down runner-up finish at the 2023 US Girls’ Junior in record fashion.
In the 2024 final, Malixi had one of the best days of her career, registering 14 birdies against no bogeys in 29 holes of golf. In the morning 18, she shot the equivalent of nine-under 62 – with the usual match play concessions – in taking a six-up lead after the first 18.
Asterisk Talley, winner of the 2024 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley (where Malixi finished runner-up) and the 2024 US Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, came out firing with three birdies over the first four holes in the afternoon session but could only cut the margin to five-down before Malixi closed out the match 8&7.
Malixi said: “Being able to compete inside the ropes with LPGA professionals is a dream come true. I’m beyond honoured, and I am very grateful for this opportunity. Playing in an LPGA Tour event is not something a junior gets to do every day, so I’ll be prepping for April!”
David Tucker, Vice President of Sales and Partnerships at Outlyr and the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro, said: “Rianne played phenomenal golf all week at the US Girls’ Junior at El Caballero, and we are excited for her to tee it up in her first LPGA Tour event at the JM Eagle LA Championship in 2025 as a result of her victory.
“Rianne has a bright future ahead of her on and off the golf course at Duke, and we look forward to welcoming her back to El Caballero in April.”
The JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro is taking place at El Caballero in 2025 due to Wilshire Country Club undergoing a multi-million-dollar course renovation and comprehensive upgrade project.
El Caballero has previously hosted the LPGA Tour (2002-2004), won by Hall-of-Famers Pak Se-ri (2002) and Annika Sorenstam (2003 and 2004).
In addition to hosting the recent US Girls’ Junior Championship, the club has hosted the US Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship as well as US Open, US Amateur and US Senior Open qualifiers.
Named for the creek that meanders through the San Fernando Valley property, El Caballero Country Club was founded in 1957 and originally designed by William H. Johnson. Robert Trent Jones Snr redesigned the course in 1963 and it was renovated by his son, Rees Jones, in 2021.
The 2024 JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro boasted one of the strongest fields of the LPGA Tour season and featured a US$3.75 million purse, the largest prize fund on the LPGA Tour outside of the Major championships and the CME Group Tour Championship.
