High hopes for Malixi in Women's Amateur As-Pac meet

MANILA, Philippines — Young Rianne Malixi joins five other Filipina bidders in the third Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship starting Wednesday in UAE, hopeful of a strong showing coming off a stint in a pro tournament in the PXG Women's Match Play Championship in Florida last week.

“The PXG is a great experience and I’m honored to play with the pros,” said Malixi, who expects to put into practice the lessons learned from PXG in the As-Pac tilt set November 10 to 13 at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club. “I learned that the pros really take their time playing each shot and putt, just focusing on their routine and not the result.”

The 2020 Philippine Amateur Stroke Play winner finished seventh in the PXG stroke play elims then dispatched Ashley Tait of the US, 4&3, in the Round of 16 of match play before bowing to eventual champion and LPGA Q-Series-bound Jessica Porvasnik, 3-2, in the quarters.

“The (PXG) event is a confidence-booster for my upcoming stint in Abu Dhabi. My short game has been pretty sharp these past 12 days," said Malixi, who, however, underscored the need to polish her putting stroke and develop mental toughness.

She felt she could've turned in a better finish in the PXG had she not grew a bit impatient in the knockout phase.

“Coming to the round of 16 up to the quarterfinals. I felt something different, I think I was over confident as I was eager to win and became too much aggressiveness,” she said. “I was always thinking about winning and so conscious on the result.”

But she expects to come out of that PXG experience a better, stronger player.

“Right, I was thinking a lot about the result while before I was focused on execution of my shots and putting. I think there is a big difference. I need to work on my mental game as I can’t translate the eagerness, aggressiveness and confidence to scoring in tough matches. I need more exposure and experience to these kind of tournaments,” she pointed out.

Malixi’s best finish (score-wise) in a young career is 10-under par in IMG Junior World Championship in 2019 but she considers her Round of 16 appearance in the US Women’s Amateur last August as her best playing experience. She also reached the Round of 32 in the US Girls’ Junior won by Princess Superal in 2014.

Malixi is actually one of the five Filipinas vying in the Nov. 10-13 championship at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club in United Arab Emirates. The winner earns invitations to play in two major championships of the LPGA – the AIG Women’s Open and the Evian Championship, as well as an exemption for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

US Women’s Open champion Yuka Saso lost in a four-player playoff in the inaugural staging of the Women's Amateur As-Pac in Singapore in 2018 won by Thai Atthaya Thitikul with Yuka Yasuda reigning at home in Japan in 2019, foiling Thithikul’s back-to-back title bid.

The event was scrapped last year due to pandemic.

World No. 4 Youmin Hwang and No. 6 Xiaowen Yin of China headline the 80-player field that includes Nicole Abelar, Sofia Chabon, Mikha Fortuna, Bernice Ilas and Lois Kaye Go, the highest-ranked Pinay at No. 107.