FILIPINA shotmaker Rianne Malixi hopes to make the most of the opportunity as top players in the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) get to play alongside LPGA stars in the Mizuho Americas Open in New Jersey.
The AJGA players tee off with the 120-player LPGA field in two separate events to be played concurrently.
The LPGA pros battle in a 72-hole stroke play event, while the juniors play using the Stableford scoring.
After the 36-hole cut to the top-50 and ties, the AJGA players will join the pros on the tee. One AJGA player will be grouped with two LPGA players for the final two days of competition, according to the LPGA.
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The $2.75 million event, one of the biggest in the sport outside of the major championships, unfolds on Thursday at the Liberty National Golf Club (Friday, Manila time) with the world No. 1 Jin Young Ko of Korea and No. 4 Lilia Vu of the US bannering the field.
“Playing an LPGA event alongside the top pros would be a great opportunity for me to learn and gain experience,” said the ICTSI-backed Malixi, one of the invited players from the American Junior Golf Association to the 12th leg of this year’s LPGA Tour.
This marks the first time the LPGA and the AJGA have partnered to showcase the current stars competing with the future of the sport, paving the way for an unprecedented week of learning and access to inspire the next generation of LPGA Tour players.
Also in the field are No. 3 Lydia Ko of New Zealand and fellow major champions Brooke Henderson of Canada, Aussie Minjee Lee, 2021 US Women’s Open titlist Yuka Saso and former world No. 1 Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand.
Malixi, a two-time AJGA winner who has also won several titles on the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour, is coming off a third-place finish in the Beaumont Emergency Hospital Open of the Women’s All Pro Tour, in Texas.
No. 2 behind Gianna Clemente in the AJGA rankings, Malixi hopes to ride on that momentum when she launches her campaign in the world’s premier circuit, which also serves as part of her buildup for the US Women’s Open elims on June 7 in Chicago.
The 16-year-old rising star is also set to compete in the British Women’s Amateur set June 13 to 18 in England.
Meanwhile, former amateur hotshot Rose Zhang of the US will also make her keenly awaited pro debut in the Americas Open. The 20-year-old will abandon her record 141 weeks as the world’s top-ranked amateur.
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