MALIXI BACK IN HUNT AS LEADERS CRUMBLE IN BIZARRE FINISH

MANILA, Philippines — If the third-round finish was any indication, then brace for a wilder, stranger finale to this year’s Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship in New Zealand.

With stronger winds forecast on Sunday at the Royal Wellington Golf Club, the stage is set for a gripping shootout – one made possible by a stunning late unraveling from the leaders that turned what seemed like a two-player battle to the title into a wide-open dogfight.

For most of the day, it appeared the championship would be settled in a Korean head-to-head between Yunseo Yang and young Gyu Been Kim as Filipina ace Rianna Malixi struggled to keep pace.

Battered early by the gusts, Malixi came undone with a double bogey on the second and a bogey on the fifth. After starting the round just three shots behind Yang following a brilliant 66, she suddenly found herself trailing by as many as seven. The crisp iron play and confident putting that fueled her second-round charge deserted her at the worst possible time, leaving her to watch from a distance as Yang and Kim dueled in the final group.

But golf has a way of flipping scripts without warning.

Just when Malixi seemed headed for another frustrating finish in her sixth WAAP campaign, she rediscovered her rhythm. Clutch birdies on Nos. 14 and 17 steadied her round and quietly kept her within striking range.

Then came the 18th hole – and the chaos.

Still five shots behind Yang and four adrift of Kim, Malixi needed something extraordinary at the par-5 closing hole. She delivered a bold second shot that settled just short of the undulating, ridge-guarded green – a clear statement of intent.

Kim, playing it safe, laid up and wedged her third to about 25 feet, setting up a realistic birdie chance. Yang, however, went for a delicate chip that landed just beyond the ridge, only to watch helplessly as the ball gathered speed, trickled past the hole and rolled off the back of the green.

Moments later, Malixi’s chip followed the exact same cruel path, also sliding past the cup and leaving her a tricky par saver.

The difference lay in the recovery.

Malixi calmly pitched to three feet and converted for par, limiting the damage. Yang wasn’t as fortunate. Her comeback attempt raced six feet beyond the hole. The par putt slid by. Bogey. A closing 72.

Then came Kim’s collapse – more stunning, more decisive.

Her birdie putt rolled five feet past. The par attempt missed. And with the pressure suddenly suffocating, the usually composed youngster shockingly flubbed a two-footer coming back. What had been a poised round disintegrated into a double bogey 7 and a 71.

In the span of a few breathless minutes, a tightly controlled duel transformed into a scramble.

Yang still clung to the lead at 13-under 203, but the cushion had thinned dramatically. Kim fell two strokes back at 205, tied with compatriot Soomin Oh, who stormed home with a 67. Malixi, after salvaging a 73 for 207, suddenly found herself just four shots behind instead of buried beyond reach.

Seojin Park added further intrigue with a sizzling 66 to move to 208, tightening the pack even more as the Koreans threatened to dominate an event that has slipped from their grasp in all seven previous editions.

Now, instead of a two-way showdown, Sunday promises an electrifying five-way battle.

And Malixi may be the most dangerous chaser of them all.

The 18-year-old incoming Duke University freshman – winner of the US Girls’ Junior and the US Women’s Amateur in 2024 – is seeking redemption after withdrawing last year due to a back injury. She is also chasing history – a first WAAP crown for the Philippines and the long-awaited breakthrough in her sixth appearance.

But she will need the kind of start she produced in Round 2, not the stumble that marred her third.

Despite brimming with confidence, she opened with a costly seven on No. 2 and dropped another shot on the fifth before settling into a string of hard-earned pars, many saved through scrambling as her iron play and putting continued to misfire.

Still, thanks to the astonishing final-hole meltdown by the frontrunners, Malixi – along with Oh and Park – now has a clear, realistic path to the title.

With stronger winds forecast and nerves freshly shaken, the final round may not simply reward the most talented player.

It will favor the steadiest.

And after Saturday’s stunning twist, nothing feels certain anymore.

2026-02-14T04:31:22Z