Malixi cruises to 13-shot romp at Valley

Rianne Malixi

Rianne Malixi, the national team spearhead who plays on the Ladies Professional Golf Tour whenever she has the time, demolished the ICTSI Valley Challenge field at the South course on Friday and later declared that she still has a lot to learn despite a 13-shot win.

“I learned a lot and it (output) tells me that I need to practice more,” said Malixi, who closed out with a two-over-par 74 for a 54-hole 218 tally which no professional in the P750,000 event came close to touching. “Valley South is a tight course and I really need to hit it straight,” added Malixi, who missed the all-time winning margin of the tour by just three shots after finding a lot of her drives in the rough and under the trees. “But it inspires me to do better especially with people watching.”

Chihiro Ikeda checking in second after a 77, nipping Harmie Constantino, who returned a 79, by a shot as the tough-as-nails layout in Antipolo bedeviled the compact field with 11 players failing to break 80.

Ikeda, the former Southeast Asian Games queen, actually gave an opening to Constantino in their race to second after closing out with four straight bogeys.

But Constantino, after birdies on 11 and 13, dropped shots on Nos. 15 and 16 to fall into a third place tie with amateur Mafy Singson (74) and Gretchen Villacencio, who shot a 76.The runner-up finish, with Malixi being an amateur, gave Ikeda the top prize to jack up her earnings for the year to P586,500 and overtake the absent Chanelle Avaricio for the Order of Merit lead.

The win certainly comes as a booster shot to Malixi, who will have a tough Thailand grind in the next two months beginning with the 88th Singha Thailand Amateur Open on Oct. 18 to Oct. 21.

She will next compete in the Singha Thailand Junior World Championship at Royal Hua Hin Golf Club on Oct. 27 to Oct. 30, before clashing with the best in the region in the Women’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship on Nov. 3 to Nov. 6 at the Siam Country Club in Chon Buri.