Malixi Shows Moxie in Winning U.S. Girls’ Junior in Record Fashion

What Happened

For 363 days, Rianne Malixi had to live with the sting of a heartbreaking, championship-match loss in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship. The 1-down defeat to Kiara Romero, who then enjoyed an All-American season at the University of Oregon, in Colorado Springs, Colo., provided more than enough motivation for the 17-year-old from the Philippines in the months leading into the 75th edition at El Caballero Country Club.

Plenty of sacrifices were made, including giving up some social activities, as Malixi wanted to avenge the defeat. From the moment she arrived in Southern California, one could sense the purpose and drive in the diminutive dynamo. There was confidence in her gait as she rolled to the No. 2 seed in stroke play, sharing second position with University of Southern California incoming freshman Jasmine Koo; they were four strokes behind medalist Kinsley Ni. Malixi’s focus never wavered as she eliminated foe after foe, including a 19-hole thriller in the Round of 32 over Kennedy Swedick, and an impressive 3-and-2 semifinal triumph on Friday over Koo, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 7 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR® and a member of the 2024 USA Curtis Cup Team.

And then in Saturday’s 36-hole championship match against Asterisk Talley, 15, of Chowchilla, Calif., in sweltering heat, Malixi performed as if her name had been 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 Mary 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.

The victory earns Malixi a spot in the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally at Erin Hills, where she hopes to play a practice round with Saso and current World No. 1 Nelly Korda.

“It's huge I know,” said Malixi with a wide smile dashed across her face. “It's hard for me to comprehend right now because everything just came in so quickly. I know being USGA champion means a lot. Being able to do that is a huge honor for me and I'm very grateful.

“It was such a heartbreak last year 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 arguably 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 – in 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, No. 19 in WAGR, 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 would finish eighth in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (Malixi failed to make the cut), win the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with partner Sarah Lim in May at Oak Hills Country Club and share 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.

And Talley did come out firing with three birdies over the first four holes in the afternoon session but could only cut 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. She 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 the U.S. National Junior Team member tried to become just the fourth woman to win multiple USGA titles in the same year to join 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 the player 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 being stacked by Malixi. In fact, 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, including Sunday when she departs for Finland to compete in the European Ladies Amateur. Besides 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 going on at nearby Wilshire C.C. She also has a likely invite to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

What the Champion Receives

• A gold medal
• Custody of the Glenna Collett Vare Trophy for one year
• Exemptions into all remaining U.S. Girls’ Junior Championships for which she is age-eligible
• Exemption into the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally at Erin Hills in Erin Hills, Wis.
• Exemptions into the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., and 2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore.
• Likely invitation into the 2025 Augusta National Women’s Amateur
• Exemption into the 2025 JM Eagle LA Championship being conducted at El Caballero C.C.
• Named engraved on the 2024 USGA Champions Plaque that will reside in the Hall of Champions inside the USGA Museum in Liberty Corner, N.J.

Notable

• Runner-up Asterisk Talley received a silver medal and a three-year exemption into the U.S. Girls’ Junior. She already is exempt for next month’s U.S. Women’s Amateur.
  
  
• Next year’s U.S. Girls’ Junior will be conducted at the Atlanta Athletic Club (Riverside Course) in Johns Creek, Ga., July 14-19. AAC was the host site of the 1976 U.S. Open won by Jerry Pate and the 1990 U.S. Women’s Open won by Betsy King.
  
  
• Amy Alcott, a Los Angeles native who won the 1973 U.S. Girls’ Junior, served as the starter for the afternoon portion of the final match. The World Golf Hall of Fame inductee also claimed the 1980 U.S. Women’s Open.
  
  
• By winning, Rianne Malixi avoided being the second player in U.S. Girls’ Junior history to lose consecutive final matches. Barbara McIntire, a six-time USA Curtis Cup competitor who later served twice as captain, lost in 1951 and 1952, the latter to future World Golf Hall of Famer Mickey Wright.
  
  
• Krista Alessandra Malixi, the younger sister of the champion, had a nice Sunday morning in the Philippines. She not only learned of Rianne’s victory, but also was celebrating her 16th birthday.
  
  
• Ryan Zak, the caddie for Asterisk Talley, serves as an instructor at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in Galt, Calif. He is a longtime family friend who attended this year’s U.S. Women’s Open where Talley shared low-amateur honors. This was the first time he’s caddied for the rising high school sophomore. Zak is a Sacramento native.
  
  
• Duke associate women’s golf coach John Whithaus stuck around to watch Malixi, who has verbally committed to play for the Blue Devils in the fall of 2025.

Quotable

“As I was walking the last hole [of the morning 18], I know I had like a big lead. I know it's not over until it's over, and then I know there is like a big break in between. I just had to meditate and really take my time saving a lot of energy. So meditating, and then back to warming up.” – Rianne Malixi on her mindset for the afternoon round

“It's like my best game so far. I know I played well in a lot of the pro events, but this is the best one so far.” – Malixi

“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.” – Malixi when asked if she had ever competed with two-time U.S. Women’s Open champion Yuka Saso, who was born in the Philippines

“I'm excited to play the Women's Am. If I can play as good as I did this week, then I can just keep playing good golf and play how I did today and this week.” – Asterisk Talley on the week and looking ahead to next month’s U.S. Women’s Amateur at Southern Hills C.C.

“She always has played good golf. I admire how her game is, and I just think she deserves to win. She worked so hard and played so well.” – Talley

David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.