Rianne Malixi recovered from an early double-bogey miscue with a run of birdies but missed a couple of chances in the stretch, ending up with a second straight 71 and staying just a stroke behind joint leaders Kiara Romero and fellow American Julia Misemer in the Girls Junior PGA Championship heading to a wild finish in Illinois.
Misemer birdied No. 9 at resumption of her suspended second round play early Thursday as she grabbed the halfway lead at 134 after a 70 but scrambled for a 72 in the third round despite an eagle on No. 9 of the Cog Hill’s Ravine’s layout.
That enabled Romero to tie her at 10-under 206, capping her rise from six spots down with a backside 31 spiked by three straight birdies from No. 10 and two closing birdie for a 67.
But Malixi, whose campaign is backed by ICTSI, stalked them at 207, while American Kaitlyn Schroeder stood just another stroke back at 208 despite struggling with a 73 and Angela Liu carded a 70 to wrest solo fifth at 210, four strokes off the joint leaders.
Malixi pressed her bid with a birdie on No. 1 but fell back with a bogey on the third and looked headed for a slide after dropping two strokes on the par-3 No. 6.
But the two-time American Junior Golf Association tour winner and twice champion on the ladies pro circuit back home fought back with back-to-back birdies from No. 8 and gained another stroke on No. 11 to get back into the mix of things.
She, however, muffed a birdie chance on the par-5 No. 15 and missed another on the 17th, both from close range.
That set up a final round shootout in the featured threesome with two others staying within striking distance and three more, Elise Lee (65), Jaclyn LaHa (74) and Katie Li (74), eyeing to strike from five down at 211.
So much is at stake for Misemer and Malixi, who are both fired up to clinch the championship and bring that winning feeling to the US Women’s Amateur, which blasts off on Aug. 8 at Chambers Bay at University Place, Washington.
Malixi leads a three-Pinay charge in next week’s blue-ribbon event, headlined by defending champion Jensen Castle, drawing Americans Brooke Biermann and Lauren Lehigh at 8:28 a.m. on No. 10 .
Nicole Abelar, on the other hand, will start at 8:17 on No. 1 with Aliea Clark and Kaleiya Romero of the US, while Tomi Arejola kicks off her bid at 8:28 a.m., also on the first hole, with Americans Claire Wright and Emily Dunlap.
Misemer, meanwhile, will start at 1:39 p.m. on No. 1 with fellow Americans Ashley Kim and Camryn Carreon.
Malixi qualified for the US Women’s Amateur by finishing joint second in the Ohio qualifier last month while Abelar, now with the Univ. of Houston, and Arejola, a Campbell University mainstay, clinched berths in the New Jersey qualifier.