Sizzling closing round nets Malixi Iloilo crown

ILOILO, Philippines — Rianne Malixi put up a flawless closeout and pounced on Daniella Uy’s flawed finish as the country’s top amateur nailed another pro victory in the ICTSI Iloilo Golf Challenge presented by MORE Power with a solid 66 yesterday.

It took Malixi just nine holes to overcome Uy’s overnight six-stroke lead and beat Chihiro Ikeda at the Iloilo Golf and Country Club. The former rattled off three birdies inside six feet for a 33 as the latter crumbled with an uncharacteristic 41 marred by a disastrous triple-bogey on the first hole.

That set the tone for the rout as Malixi, 16, stayed focused and kept her poise in the heat in the last nine holes. She birdied the 16th to complete a four-under card and a 209 total after 70 and 73 in the first two rounds of the P875,000 championship.

Malixi thus snapped a run of fruitless campaigns here and abroad that saw her miss a podium finish in the recent Queen Sirikit Cup at Manila Southwoods after yielding the bronze to Korean Hyunjo Yoo in the countback, and ending up tied at 13th in the Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific Championship in Singapore.

She also struggled in the first of the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour’s two-leg Visayan swing where she wound up a distant joint third at Marapara. She appeared headed for another unsuccessful stint this week after trailing Uy by six with 18 holes left to play in the P875,000 championship.