Centerpiece sweep for PH as Tabalin, Malixi rule

Edison Tabalin (left, photo above) and Rianne Malixi proudly pose with their trophies in Thailand. —INQUIRER GOLF PHOTO

Team Philippines stamped its class in the Thailand Junior World Golf Championships on Sunday after Edison Tabalin and Rianne Malixi carved out contrasting victories in the centerpiece division of their respective brackets at Royal Hua Hin Golf Club in Hua Hin.

Tabalin, the burly Davao native who at 16 is flashing a lot of potential, scored a routine par to save a two-over-par 74 for a 72-hole 299 and beat countryman Jacob Cajita and Thailand’s Liberto Lapassapon by two.

The seasoned Malixi, on the other hand, fired a 68 to brush off local ace Udkamtiang Ausanee for a three-shot win with a 285 total.

In another event in Thailand, Carl Corpuz closed out with a four-under-par 68 at Amata Spring Country Club in Chonburi to finish fifth in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship also Sunday.

Aussie Harrison Crowe won the event at 275, with Corpuz just five shots off. Crowe earned a trip to the Masters tournament next year in Augusta.

Malixi’s win comes just a week after she lost in a playoff to Vongtaveelap Natthakritta in the Thailand Amateur Open in Bangkok, Thailand, that saw her fight back from four shots down in the last 18 holes in regulation.

The win likewise highlighted Malixi’s prolific season that included two victories in the American Junior Golf Association and two on the local pro circuit. She actually kicked off her win run with a 15-stroke romp in the Midlands leg of the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour’s final event in 2021 last December.

“I played well in the Thai Amateur and it gave me confidence this week,” said Malixi, handled full time by Canadian ex-Philippine Open winner Rick Gibson.

Tabalin also nipped Cajita in sudden death in the Luisita Junior Championship last month, a qualifier for this event.