Filipina teen golfer Rianne Malixi bounced back from last year’s disappointment, winning the 75th US Junior Girls championship in Tarzana, California on Sunday.
The seventeen-year-old battled through the scorching heat to prevail over Chowchilla, California native Asterisk Talley in the finals.
After finishing tied for second in stroke play, the young Filipina dominated the next three days of match play.
Malixi was tied with Talley after four holes in the 36-hole finals before winning eight of the next ten.
“It’s huge, I know it’s hard for me to comprehend right now because everything just came in so quickly,” she said after her stunning victory.
Malixi went 7-up after winning five straight holes, was 6-up after 18, and ended it with a par win on the 29th hole.
“It’s good to have something off my bucket list and I’ve always wanted to win this for the longest time so it feels so good,” Malixi said
“It feels surreal. I’m on cloud nine right now because I’m just really emotional I know I’ve dedicated a lot of time in training and it’s nice to see that hard work pays off this week,” added the Filipina teener after convincingly redeeming herself from a 2023 debacle handed to her by Kiara Romero.
That was when Romero beat her, 1-up, at the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Eisenhower Golf Course in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
She reached the finals following a 19-hole thriller in the Round of 32 over Kennedy Swedick.
After that, a 3-and-2 semifinal triumph over No. 2 seed University of Southern California incoming freshman Jasmine Koo put Malixi in the finals.
Koo is 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.
Malixi, who committed to play at Duke University in 2025, has joined Princess Superal (2014), to become the second US Girls’ Junior champion from the Philippines.
She will remain on the road with tournaments scheduled in Finland next week and Oklahoma early next month.
