Wisconsin, United States: The good is news is that Rianne Malixi is back. The not so good news is that she’s not yet back to her best.
After an injury-ravaged start to 2025, Malixi took her place in the starting line-up at this week’s 80th US Women’s Open.
Although she missed the half-way cut at Erin Hills, simply being able to participate was a source of encouragement on the road back to fitness for the 18-year-old from the Philippines.
Malixi’s celebrity status in the American golfing scene was cemented last year when she captured the US Women's Amateur and US Girls’ Junior, becoming just the second player in USGA history to capture the two titles in the same calendar year.
Her reward was to be drawn alongside defending champion Yuka Saso and Hall of Famer Lydia Ko in the first two rounds of the United States Golf Association's showpiece US Women's Open, the second Major of 2025.
For Malixi, fourth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and committed to Duke University this fall, it was a double-edged sword.
There was pride and excitement at being paired with two of the marquee names in women’s golf, along with a sense of nervousness and apprehension as to how she’d perform on one of the game’s biggest stages after more than two months without a competitive round under her belt.
At Vietnam’s Hoiana Shores Golf Club in March, Malixi was three-over through five holes in the opening round of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) when she retired.
A month later she withdrew from the Augusta National Women’s Amateur after playing just four holes in her practice round at Champions Retreat.
Since then she’s been receiving treatment on her troublesome back in the US. “Health-wise, I’m doing much better,” said Malixi, on the eve of the US Women's Open.
Given her injury issues and lack of playing time this year, the fact that she completed 36 gruelling holes on a tough layout offered cause for optimism. Nonetheless, there were clear signs of rustiness in her game as she posted rounds of 79 and 78 with 10 bogeys and two double-bogeys over the course of the two days.
Now, the challenge is to regain full match fitness ahead of her next Major assignment, the Amundi Evian Championship in France in mid-July.
Also missing out on the weekend action at Erin Hills were Malixi’s fellow amateurs Aira Nagasawa and Nicha Kanpai.
Japan’s Nagasawa was a member of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation team that defeated Europe to win the Solheim Cup-style Patsy Hankins Trophy in the United Arab Emirates in January and also was part of the Japan team that placed third in the Queen Sirikit Cup in Miyazaki a fortnight ago.
Having earned her place at Erin Hills via a qualifier in Japan, Nagasawa signed for rounds of 76 and 78.
University of Maryland junior Kanpai had survived a three-for-two play-off to secure her first US Women's Open start.
An All-Big Ten selection in each of her first three seasons in College Park, this season the Thai has earned an individual spot in the NCAA Charlottesville Regional.
Winner of the 2023 SAT-NSDF Ladies Open on the Thai LPGA Tour and 16 th in the 2024 WAAP in her home country, Kanpai compiled rounds of 74 and 77 at Erin Hills.
