MANILA, Philippines — Rianne Malixi survived another scrambling round at the Liberty National course but the top Filipina amateur upstaged LPGA Tour campaigners In-Kyung Kim and Lucy Li with a 73 worth 35 points in the third round of the Mizuho Americans Open-AJGA Juniors in New Jersey Saturday.
Kim, a seven-time winner in the world’s premier circuit, including the Women’s British Open in 2017, and two-time Epson Tour titlist Li both carded 74s and yielded the stage to Malixi with a 38-35 card.
Though the 16-year-old ICTSI-backed shotmaker moved to solo 13th from joint 16th with 100 points, she remained 10 points behind Yana Wilson and Anna Davis in their side of the American Junior Golf Association battle heading to the final round of the 72-hole championship held side-by-side with the $2.75 million LPGA.
Ranged against LPGA mainstays for the first time, Malixi held her ground with pars in the first two holes then birdied No. 3 from 12 feet. She two-putted for par on the next and went up-and-down on the fifth but bogeyed the next two on missed green mishaps.
She gained a stroke on the par-5 eighth, dropped two shots on the ninth but kicked off her backside bid with back-to-back birdies and barely completed a three-birdie binge on the 12th.
A couple of errant hits, however, led to a bogey on the next.