Malixi posts worst AJGA result with 79 in Rolex Girls Junior Championship

MANILA, Philippines — Rianne Malixi ended her run of over-par rounds with her highest output in four days – a 79 – that sent her reeling to a forgettable joint 35th place finish in the Rolex Girls Junior Championship ruled by local ace Kaitlyn Schroeder in Jupiter, Florida Friday (early Saturday, Manila time).

Malixi’s backside 43 typified the young Filipina shotmaker’s struggle at the tough Loxahatchee Golf Club course, marred by a triple-bogey on No. 16. She actually survived a roller-coaster frontside of three birdies against the same number of bogeys but failed to recover from a double-bogey mishap on No. 11.

After two pars, she yielded another stroke on No. 14, gave up three strokes on the last par-5 hole then bogeyed the par-3 17th for a 79. She opened with a 76, bowed out of contention with a second round 77 and hardly improved her ranking with a 74 Thursday (Friday, Manila).

The ICTSI-backed bet’s 18-over 306 total was her worst performance in the American Junior Golf Association where she won the Thunderbird All-Star title via playoff last April and posted a couple of top 5 finishes, including a runner-up effort in the last AJGA event, the Stacy Lewis Junior All Star in Arizona.

But she hopes to recover her bearing and rhythm and regain her confidence when she vies in the US Women's Amateur Qualifying on June 28 in Vero Beach, also in Florida.

Schroeder, meanwhile, matched par 72 for the second straight time and won the crown on a 286 total, two strokes clear of Ohio’s Gianna Clemente, who faltered with a 74 for a 289.

In the Women’s All Pro Tour in Texas, amateur LK Go holed out with a bogey and finished with a 72, ending up at joint 26th in the Oscar Williams Classic won by Mariel Galdiano in wire-to-wire fashion at the Hurricane Creek Golf Club in Anna Friday (Saturday).

Go had hoped for a stronger finish after a three-birdie, two-bogey card at the front but the Cebuana lost her momentum and made two bogeys against a lone birdie in the last nine holes.

Counting her earlier rounds of 74-73-71, the many-time national team mainstay wound up tied at 26th at 290, 16 strokes behind Galdiano, who topped the event by two after a closing 71.

The Florida native took control of the field with a 66-65 start and cruised to victory at 274 worth $10,000. Chinese Miranda Wang fired a 69 to finish second at 276.