Rianne Malixi is making a serious run at history at the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
The 18-year-old from the Philippines opened her title defense with a 4-under 68 Monday at Bandon Dunes, putting her in a three-way tie for the lead alongside Arizona’s Julia Misemer and Texas’ Cindy Hsu.
It’s been 14 years since anyone has won back-to-back U.S. Women’s Amateur championships. Danielle Kang was the last to accomplish the feat, and Malixi is looking to join that exclusive club of just 12 players who’ve gone back-to-back.
What makes Malixi’s strong start even more remarkable is that she almost didn’t make it to Oregon at all.
“Worst-case scenario, I am not going to play,” Malixi said. “The best-case scenario is I might miss the practice rounds and head straight to the first round. Then, boom, I got a notification that my passport is ready and visa was ready.”
Malixi, who’s headed to Duke later this month, had been waiting for her student visa approval when a typhoon further delayed the process. She finally picked up her documents just six hours before her flight last Thursday, arriving at Bandon on Saturday afternoon with barely enough time for nine practice holes before getting in a full 18 on Sunday.
Her bogey-free opening round included birdies at Nos. 3, 9 and 13, plus a 25-foot conversion at No. 17. She showed impressive course management, too, laying up from fairway bunkers on several par-4s before wedging close with her third shots for stress-free pars.
“To be honest, I haven’t been feeling 100% lately,” Malixi said. “I played a couple of majors, Evian and U.S. Women’s Open, but I didn’t play well. I am just happy enough to be playing 18 holes and 36 holes a couple of days ago. I haven’t been shooting well, but today was eye-opening for me.”
That’s quite an understatement. This is Malixi’s first amateur event since the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific in early March, where she withdrew after just five holes with a back strain. The injury also forced her to pull out of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur after her practice round left her at just “40-50%” capacity.
She took three weeks off completely, seeing both a physical therapist and chiropractor in Australia.
“I was very mis-aligned, and hitting 400 balls a day made it worse, so I had to rest,” Malixi explained.
Her return to competition hasn’t been smooth. She missed cuts at the U.S. Women’s Open (79-78), the JLPGA’s Ai Miyazato Suntory Ladies Open (76-72), and the Amundi Evian Championship (74-72). That makes Monday’s performance all the more impressive for the world’s third-ranked amateur.
Malixi is chasing something special this week. Last year, she pulled off the remarkable double of winning both the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Southern Hills and the U.S. Girls’ Junior just a few weeks prior.
Just one shot back at 3-under are several contenders, including 16-year-old Asterisk Talley, whom Malixi defeated in both USGA finals last year. Talley arrives at Bandon fresh off a victory at the Girls Junior PGA Championship in Indiana.
Also at 3-under are Wake Forest grad and current Golf Channel on-course reporter Emilia Doran, Texas A&M incoming freshman Scarlett Schremmer, Auburn’s Anna Davis, and N.C. State grad Lauren Olivares, who made NCAA women’s golf history in 2023 by shooting 60.
Malixi’s fellow Duke newcomer, Avery McCrery, sits at 2-under, while world No. 1 amateur Kiara Romero and reigning U.S. Girls’ Junior champ Aphrodite Deng both opened with 1-under rounds.
Princeton’s Catherine Rao also carded a 2-under 70, though in dramatically different fashion—she turned in 6-under before coming home with a birdie-less 40 on the back nine.
