Malixi dominates; Ilas, Hernandez pace the men's race in SEAG qualifiers

MANILA, Philippines — Eager to dominate, Rianne Malixi came out smoking to tame Luisita's dreaded backside and pull away from the pack that not even a fumbling finish could block her from driving a wedge between her and her pursuers.

Her 71, spiked by an opening 33 but marred by bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8, proved more than enough to put her way ahead of her rivals in women’s play even as Miguel Ilas matched par 72 to tie for Jet Hernandez for the men's lead after 36 holes of the SEA Games qualifying in Tarlac Saturday.

Malixi, who scrambled with an opening 73 but still led Laurea Duque and Sunshine Zhang by one Friday, birdied the 10th then bounced back strong from a bogey on the next with birdies on Nos. 12, 16 and 17 but stumbled with two bogeys in the last three holes on her way home at the front to settle for a 38-33 round in morning play at the Luisita Golf and Country Club.

But with no one from her rivals able to at least match her pace, the smooth-swinging 14-year-old reigning national stroke play champion and spearhead of Team ICTSI in amateur play stretched her overnight one-shot lead to a whopping seven-stroke bulge with a 144 aggregate.

Mafy Singson took the challenger’s role but her 75 marred by five bogeys against two birdies could only net her a 151, counting her opening 76, while erstwhile pursuer Duque skied to an 86 after a 74 and tumbled to joint sixth with Reese Ng, who turned in an 81, at 160.

Arnie Taguines moved to third with a 153 after a 75 while Zhang, who matched Duque’s opening two-over card, blew a backside 37 with a disastrous 43 for an 80 and slipped to fourth at 154.

Jody Castillo pooled a 159 for fifth after a 76 while Gabie Rosca (82-162), Sophia Abarcas (83-167), Eagle Superal (83-170) and Julianne Borlongan (79-172) could be too far behind to contend for the lone berth being disputed in the distaff side.

After a short break, the SEAG bidders returned for the third round in the afternoon with Malixi seeking to further pad her lead and build a big cushion for Sunday's final round of the first of two 72-hole tournaments and for next weekend’s play at Splendido Taal.

Ilas, meanwhile, fought back from a 76 with a 72 although he appeared headed to wresting solo control after a solid frontside 33 spiked by three straight birdies from No. 4. 

But he lost his rhythm and touch at the tough backside of the fabled layout, which has hosted a number of top-notch tournaments in the past, including the Philippine Open, dropping strokes on Nos. 11 and 12 and yielding another on the 16th.

But he did catch Hernandez at the helm at 148 as the latter, who shared the first round lead with Jacob Calita, groped for a 75 marred by four bogeys against a birdie at the back.

Calita, on the other hand, failed to sustain his decent start of 73 as he limped with a bogey-riddled 42 after nine holes and never recovered, finishing with a 44 for an 86 that sent him down all the way to joint 18th with Sean Young, who made a 79, at 159.

That was 11 strokes off Ilas and Hernandez, who built a five-stroke lead over four others in their side of the qualifier which offers two slots in the national squad.

Perry Bucay shot a 74, Masaichi Otake carded a 76 while Elee Bisera and Marc Lu struggled with identical 77s for joint third at 153.

Gab Manotoc, meanwhile, battled back from an opening 79 with a 75 as he moved to solo seventh at 154, six strokes adrift, while Josh Jorge also pounded out a tough three-over 75 for joint eighth with siblings Ryan and Ivan Monsalve, who faltered with identical 80s, for 155s.

Shinichi Suzuki, who also put in an impressive 74 Friday, succumbed to tough conditions and ended up with an 82 for a 156 while Edward Dy and Kristoffer Arevalo pooled identical 157s after an 80 and 81, respectively.