Defending Champ Malixi Among Trio of Day 1 Leaders at Bandon Dunes

Between a July typhoon that affected her native Philippines and bureaucratic paperwork to obtain a student visa to play for Duke University this fall, Rianne Malixi nearly didn’t make it to Bandon Dunes Golf Resort for her U.S. Women’s Amateur title defense this week.

As early as last week, she was awaiting the final approval, which didn’t become official until six hours prior to the scheduled flight to the United States. Malixi arrived in southwestern Oregon on Saturday, in time to get nine holes of preparation in on the Bandon Dunes course, and an 18-hole round on Sunday. Video of the two most previous USGA championships conducted at Bandon Dunes – the 2020 U.S. Amateur and 2022 U.S. Junior Amateur – also helped the 18-year-old become more familiar with the David McLay Kidd design.

Add a recent back injury that forced Malixi to withdraw from two spring LPGA Tour invites, including a major (Chevron Championship), and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, and the talented Filipina has been battling plenty of adversity since hoisting the Robert Cox Trophy last August at Southern Hills Country Club, in Tulsa, Okla.

But if there’s one characteristic that defines Malixi it’s grit. That was on full display in Monday’s opening round of stroke play at the 125th U.S. Women’s Amateur on a chamber-of-commerce, early-August day on the Oregon coast.

Malixi fired a bogey-free, 4-under-par 68 to share the first-round lead with University of Arizona rising senior Julia Misemer, of Overland Park, Kan., and University of Texas rising senior Cindy Hsu, of Chinese Taipei.

They were one stroke clear of 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur runner-up and U.S. National Junior Team members Asterisk Talley, of Chowchilla, Calif., and Scarlett Schremmer, of Birmingham, Ala., U.S. Elite Amateur Program member and Auburn University rising junior Anna Davis, of Spring Valley, Calif., recent North Carolina State graduate Lauren Oliveras, of Mexico, and former Wake Forest All-American and two-time USA Curtis Cup competitor Emilia (Migliaccio) Doran, of Cary, N.C.

The large group at 2-under 70 includes U.S. Elite Amateur Program member and 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball champion Gianna Clemente, of Estero, Fla., recent Michigan State graduate Brooke Biermann, of Wildwood, Mo., 16-year-old Ying Xu, of the People’s Republic of China, Santa Clara rising sophomore Alexa Pineda, of Menlo Park, Calif., Alexis Yanet Lamadrid, of Mexico, three-time U.S. Women’s Amateur quarterfinalist and Princeton University standout Catherine Rao, of Camarillo, Calif., former Stanford standout and eight-time U.S. Women’s Amateur qualifier Brooke Seay, of San Diego, Calif., 2023 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific champion Eila Galitsky, of Thailand, 2025 Wake Forest graduate Carolina Lopez-Chacarra, of Spain, incoming Duke University freshman Avery McCrery, of Wilmington, Del., Duke University graduate student Andie Smith, of Hobe Sound, Fla., former Columbia University golfer Allison Paik, of Boston, Mass.,Arkansas rising senior Reagan Zibilski, of Springfield, Mo., and North and South Women’s Amateur runner-up Jazy Roberts, of Australia. 

Malixi’s back issues first flared up in January and only got worse at the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship in March. Her Australia-based physical therapist and a chiropractor both told the No. 9 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR® that she needed to take a break from golf. For three weeks, Malixi did not touch a club.

“Hitting 400 balls a day made it worse,” she said. “So I had to rest.”

Malixi, bidding to become the first back-to-back champion since Danielle Kang (2010-11), initially struggled upon her return to competitive golf. But she took full advantage of her 8:07 a.m. PDT starting time with fellow U.S. Girls’ Junior champions Kiara Romero (2023), the current world No. 1 amateur, and Aphrodite Deng (2025), both of whom carded 1-under 71s. Malixi, who joined Korean Eun Jeong Seong as the only players to win the U.S. Girls’ Junior and U.S. Women’s Amateur in the same year, posted four birdies and added three key par saves after finding fairway bunkers off the tee.

“Today was eye-opening for me,” said Malixi, who missed the cut in last month’s Evian Championship and the U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally at Erin Hills in June. “Having experience [with links golf] helped me a lot for this week.”

Misemer, playing in her 10th USGA championship and fourth U.S. Women’s Amateur, heated up over her final nine holes as the winds steadily increased. She birdied Nos. 13, 14 and 17 and lipped out a 6-footer for birdie on the par-5 18th hole. Nothing in Misemer’s summer résumé screamed a 68. She missed the match-play cut at last month’s Women’s Western Amateur and tied for 21st in the Ladies National Golf Association Championship.

“My game is definitely getting better and better every day,” said Misemer, “and so I'm feeling the progress. I was really excited to come here.

“Definitely been feeling really good about the mid-irons and [my] putting this past week has really clicked. [Controlling] mid-irons are going to be important out here and then making putts.”

Hsu, No. 36 in the WAGR, arrived at Bandon Dunes fresh off winning the LNGA event at The Home Course, in DuPont, Wash., and advancing to the quarterfinals of the Women’s Western Amateur. She also helped Texas advance to the match-play portion of the NCAA Championships, in May. Like Misemer, she got hot over her final nine holes, posting a 3-under 33 on the outward nine. Now she’ll look to build off a Round-of-32 run a year ago at Southern Hills C.C.

For Talley, 2024 was a magical year that included victories at the Junior Invitational Sage Valley and the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with partner Sarah Lim. She shared low-amateur honors in the U.S. Women’s Open, and advanced to the finals of the U.S. Girls’ Junior and U.S. Women’s Amateur. In September, she took down world No. 1 Lottie Woad in Sunday singles at the Curtis Cup Match. The results in 2025 haven’t matched her 2024 campaign, but she just won the Girls Junior PGA Championship and will compete for the U.S. in next month’s Junior Ryder Cup at Nassau Country Club and Bethpage State Park’s Black Course. She’s also a little more familiar with links golf and playing in windy conditions.

“I do like it,” said Talley of links golf. “I mean, there's pretty much no trouble off the tee. It's just like what are you going to do to control the distance around the greens. So that's just mostly the biggest difference, but I feel like I'm pretty good at that by now.”

Lefty Davis, the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion, holed a 12-foot par putt on 18 to join Malixi as the lone players with bogey-free rounds on Day 1. This is Davis’ first competition since advancing to the quarterfinals of The Women’s Amateur at Nairn Golf Club, in Scotland, earlier this summer.

Schremmer credited having her mom, Patricia Ehrhart, on her bag and switching to a lower-spinning golf ball as the key to her success in the breezy afternoon conditions. Coming off the disappointment of missing the cut in her final U.S. Girls’ Junior last month at Atlanta Athletic Club, the incoming Texas A&M freshman got to 4 under par with a birdie on No. 10 before settling for a 69.

What’s Next

All 156 competitors will play a second round of stroke play at Bandon Dunes on Tuesday after which the field will be trimmed to the low 64 scorers and ties. If a playoff is necessary to determine the final spots in the draw, it would take place late Tuesday afternoon starting at No. 10 and then continuing to Nos. 11, 12, 16, 17 and 18, if necessary. Match play begins on Wednesday with the Round of 64 and continues until Sunday’s 36-hole championship match. Golf Channel has live coverage of the opening round of match play on Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET. The network will continue live coverage through Sunday’s final. Admission is free and spectators are encouraged to attend.

Notable

• The Round 1 scoring average was 74.26.
  
  
• Oregon State University rising senior Kyra Ly, of Portland, Ore., had the honor of hitting the opening tee shot of the championship. Ly posted a 2-over 74.
  
  
• With the Walker Cup coming to Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in 2028 and a U.S. Girls’ Junior in 2035, the number of unique USGA championships at the southwest Oregon facility, which houses five 18-hole and two short courses, will rise to 11. To honor all the past, present and future competitions, Bandon Dunes recently purchased replica trophies to display in the foyer of The Lodge. Four separate display cases showcase the USGA championships, including the now-retired U.S. Amateur Public Links and U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links conducted concurrently in 2011.
  
  
• Floridian Andie Smith, a graduate student at Duke University, had more than just golf course prep on Sunday. She took an Accounting 501 test for summer school that was proctored by a USGA staff member. No word on how she graded out, but she aced her Monday golf exam with a 2-under 70.
  
  
• Warren Schutte, the champion of the 1992 U.S. Amateur Public Links, is on his daughter Abbey’s bag this week. Abbey Schutte is a rising junior at the University of Arkansas. Abbey’s older brother, Hayden, is on the bag of his girlfriend and 2025 Arkansas graduate Kendall Todd, a semifinalist in the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
  
  
• Meghan Stasi, the 2026 USA Curtis Cup captain, is at Bandon Dunes this week scouting prospective players for the Match next June at Bel-Air Country Club, in Los Angeles. Stasi is a four-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion who played in the 2008 Curtis Cup at St. Andrews as well as the 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball at Bandon Dunes (Pacific Dunes course). She also captained the 2024 side that narrowly was defeated at Sunningdale Golf Club, in England.
  
  
• Cindy Hsu has 2001 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links champion and 2009 U.S. Women’s Open runner-up Candie Kung on her bag.
  
  
• Also on the property Monday were USGA champions Pat Hurst and Krissy Carman. Hurst, who won the 1986 U.S. Girls’ Junior and 1990 U.S. Women’s Amateur, is an amateur golf rep for Titleist, while Carman, the 2022 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, is an assistant coach at the University of Oregon.
  
  
• Emilia (Migliaccio) Doran was the last player to register, doing so on Monday morning after spending the past four days working for Golf Channel at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship. The 26-year-old, who got in a practice round before going to Utah, is also scheduled to work for Golf Channel at Bandon Dunes as an on-course reporter once she is eliminated.
  
  
• Lauren Olivares, who opened with a 3-under-par 69, holds the distinction of shooting the lowest round in women’s college history, an 11-under-par 60 at Yeamans Hall Club, in Hanahan, S.C., during the first round of the 2023 Cougar Classic. Olivares graduated from North Carolina State in May.

Quotable

“I think it’s just try to do what I did today and play boring golf, so just fairways and greens is all. Boring golf is good golf.” – Anna Davis on her mindset for Round 2 of stroke play

“The U.S. Girls' Junior was a kind of gut punch. I felt like I was a main contender going into that week, so it was pretty heartbreaking to leave early, but I definitely took it as motivation, and I'm just happy to be here and kind of open a new chapter as I close my junior golf career.” – Scarlett Schremmer

“I think every week you leave with a little bit of motivation, but I think the U.S. Girls’ [Junior] was just a good reminder that no one's immune to a bad round, so you just got to go out there and give it your all.” – Schremmer

“It was definitely a good motivator to get to come somewhere so special and get some really nice weather, get a break from the heat, so that's I mean that's a big bonus.” – Julia Misemer on playing Bandon Dunes

“I'm doing well. I got some sleep coming from Indiana to here and then got some sleep here, so I've been fine. I kind of got rested before this week, so I'm feeling pretty good.” – Asterisk Talley on her stamina after coming off the Junior Girls PGA Championship win last week

“My ball flight is just a little lower. You just have to keep a good mental state. That helps a lot.” – Lauren Olivares (68) on adjusting to the wind

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