For 363 days, Rianne Malixi carried the sting of a heartbreaking loss in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship.
The 1-down defeat to Kiara Romero, who went on to have an All-American season at the University of Oregon, in Colorado Springs, Colo., fueled the 17-year-old Malixi with determination heading into the 75th edition at El Caballero Country Club.
Malixi made significant sacrifices, including giving up social activities, to prepare for this year’s championship.
Upon arriving in Southern California, her purpose and drive were evident. She confidently rolled to the No. 2 seed in stroke play, sharing second position with University of Southern California incoming freshman Jasmine Koo, four strokes behind medalist Kinsley Ni.
Malixi’s focus remained steadfast as she eliminated opponent after opponent, including a 19-hole thriller in the Round of 32 over Kennedy Swedick and an impressive 3-and-2 semifinal triumph over Koo, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 7 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking and a member of the 2024 USA Curtis Cup Team.
In Saturday’s 36-hole championship match against Asterisk Talley, 15, of Chowchilla, Calif., in sweltering heat, Malixi played as if her name were already engraved on the Glenna Collett Vare Trophy.
Her impressive 8-and-7 victory over the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball champion was the largest in championship history.
Nancy Lopez (1974) and Michelle McGann (1987) each registered 7-and-5 decisions back when the final was contested over 18 holes (the format switched in 2006).
Malixi, who plans to play at Duke University in the fall of 2025, joined Princess Superal (2014) as the only U.S. Girls’ Junior champions from the Philippines.
Yuka Saso, in 2021, won the U.S. Women’s Open representing the Philippines, the country of her mother. She captured the title again in June representing Japan, the country of her father.
“It’s huge, I know,” said Malixi, her face beaming with a wide smile. “It’s hard for me to comprehend right now because everything just came in so quickly. Being a USGA champion means a lot. Being able to do that is a huge honor for me, and I’m very grateful.”
Reflecting on last year’s loss, she added, “It was such a heartbreak because I was so close. After that U.S. trip, I just practiced a lot. I spent a lot of hours training in Manila. I sacrificed a lot of my social time, school time. Not only me, but my dad (Roy) also sacrificed a lot of time for me just to accompany me. My family had their share [of sacrifices], and I’m just really grateful for everything.”
Malixi had one of the best days of her career on Saturday, registering 14 birdies against no bogeys in 29 holes of golf.
In the morning 18, she shot the equivalent of 9-under 62 – with the usual match-play concessions – taking a 6-up lead into the 2½-hour lunch break. One of those birdies came on the par-5 first hole, where she made 4 eight times in 10 visits.
But Malixi wasn’t going to rest on her laurels, especially given that Talley edged her for the title in this year’s Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, a prestigious event held in late March in Graniteville, S.C.
In fact, the two shared one of the on-site cottages.
Talley later finished eighth in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (Malixi failed to make the cut), won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with partner Sarah Lim in May at Oak Hills Country Club, and shared low-amateur honors in the U.S. Women’s Open with reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Megan Schofill and USC All-American/2024 USA Curtis Cupper Catherine Park.
Talley came out strong with three birdies over the first four holes in the afternoon session, cutting the margin to as little as 5 down.
Malixi won the par-5 25th with a birdie to go 6 up, birdied the par-4 27th from 20 feet to take a 7-up lead, and closed it out two holes later with a par after Talley’s recovery shot from a greenside bunker sailed well past the flag into rough guarding the back of the green.
Talley nearly holed out for par, and once Malixi coaxed her 15-foot putt to 3 feet and converted the par attempt, the two exemplary juniors hugged.
For the No. 57 player in the WAGR, it was an emotional loss as she tried to become just the fourth woman to win multiple USGA titles in the same year, joining Pearl Sinn (1988), Jennifer Song (2009), and Eun Jeong Seong (2016), and just the second player to have won a U.S. Girls’ Junior and U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball (Erica Shepherd).
In Friday’s semifinal win over 2022 runner-up Gianna Clemente, Talley was on fire with 10 birdies over 17 holes.
“I’m proud of myself for how I played this week, but I made too many mistakes out there today,” said the fourth-seeded Talley, fighting tears. “I tried to turn it around in the [second 18] but I was too far away, and I couldn’t reach her. She was playing too well. She played her butt off today, and I couldn’t do anything.”
Golf is a game where opponents can’t play defense, and Talley had no answers for the birdies stacked by Malixi.
Malixi only trailed for three holes the entire week, and that was in her semifinal win over Koo. She also only needed 107 holes to win the title, the second-fewest in the 36-hole, championship-match era (Eun Jeon Seong 104 in 2015) that began in 2006.
Playing tournaments in 11 different countries over the past two years has toughened the Manila native.
Earlier this year, she finished fifth in the Korean Women’s Open. She also competed in the Women’s Amateur Championship conducted by The R&A at Royal Portmarnock in the Republic of Ireland and represented her country in last year’s Women’s World Amateur Team Championship in the United Arab Emirates.
And now, there will be a lot more travel in her future.
Besides all the USGA championships, she also receives a sponsor’s exemption into the LPGA Tour’s JM Eagle LA Championship that will be held at El Caballero C.C. next year due to renovations at nearby Wilshire C.C. She also has a likely invite to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
When asked if she had ever competed with two-time U.S. Women’s Open champion Yuka Saso, Malixi replied, “I played with her six years ago. She was 17 or barely 18. We played golf together in a tournament [in the Philippines]. It was fun.”
