Rianne Malixi failed to match her frontside charge in the first round and reeled on a shaky finish Saturday as she all but blew her bid for another AJGA (American Junior Golf Association) title with a 74 in the Albane Valenzuela Girls Invitational at the Longbow Golf Club in Mesa, Arizona.
Jaclyn LaHa banked a solid backside start to card a 67 at the par-71 layout as she stormed away by four strokes over fellow Californian Frances Kim on a 133 aggregate heading to the final round of the 54-hole tournament. Kim fought back from a 73 with an eagle-spiked 64 as she seized solo second at 137 while Emerson Blair from Mississippi fired a 68 for third at 139.
Malixi, who delivered the bronze medal for Team Philippines in the recent SEA Games in Vietnam, trailed by just one shot after a superb opening 67 anchored on a scorching four-birdie binge in the last five holes at the front Friday. But after a birdie on No. 15 to kick off her second round charge, the young ICTSI-backed star stumbled with back-to-back bogeys from No. 17.She birdied the first two holes at the front to go one-under in the day and five-under overall but lost her rhythm and double bogeyed the fourth. She failed to recover and bogeyed Nos. 6 and 7.
Those pair of 37s and a 141 thus pulled her down to joint fourth, now eight shots behind LaHa although the recent Thunderbird All Star winner is expected to pour it all out in the last 18 holes in an attempt to improve on her ranking and build some momentum for her next campaign.
Over in Florida, Abby Arevalo fought back with a one-under 72 but lay too far behind American Gina Kim after two rounds of the Inova Mission Inn Resort and Club Championship at the Howey-In-The-Hills Saturday.
Arevalo, who with ICTSI teammate Pauline del Rosario struggled with 74 at the par-73 Mission Inn Resort and Club course Friday, shot three birdies against two bogeys as she moved to joint 31st with a 146 aggregate, 11 strokes behind Kim, who endured two separate weather delays to card a 69 and a 135.
Kim posted a two-stroke lead over Mexican Maria Fassi, who rallied with a 66 for a 137, while Amy Lee, also of the US, also stayed in the hunt at 138 after a second 69 heading to the last 18 holes of the $200,000 championship of the Epson Tour.
Del Rosario also made the cut but could only put in a wild even par 73 for a 147 and a share of 44th.
The power-hitting del Rosario gunned down an eagle and fired three birdies against two bogeys but holed out with a triple-bogey on the par-4 18th for a 36-37.
Fil-Am Clariss Guce, however, failed to advance with a 74 and a 151, three strokes below the cut.