RIANNE Malixi finished in a tie for fourth place in the premier girls’ 15-18 division in the IMG Junior World Championship on Thursday at Torrey Pines in California (Friday, Manila time).
The 16-year-old Malixi, preparing for the US Women’s Amateur next month, closed with a three-under-par 69 to finish 54 holes on 4-under, just two shots behind Japanese winner Nanami Nakashima.
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Malixi collected four birdies against a single bogey to tie Chun-Wei Wu of Chinese-Taipei who carded a final round 70.
Nakashima also shot a 70 to win by one over Hong Kong’s Sophie Han, who shot a 68, and Arianna Lau, who closed with a 73.
"I played better today,” said Malixi, who is set to compete in the US Girls' Junior championship in Colorado Springs, Denver. “I sunk putts that mattered in the first nine, but didn't quite do that on my second nine despite of the many opportunities I created.”
Three other Filipino players from the lower age-group divisions finished in the top 10.
Winter Serapio placed sixth- in the girls’ 6-and-under, closing with a 79. Stephanie Gaisano-Gan took seventh spot with a final-round 78.
In the boys’ 6-and-under, Kenzo Tan came in seventh at 7-over par after shooting a 72.
“I’m happy with the performance of everyone. They stayed focused and united to give honors to the country,” said Junior Golf Foundation of the Philippines (JGFP) president Oliver Gan.
Jaden Dumdumaya was the top Filipino performer in the boys’ 15-18, shooting a six-over-par 78 for joint 32nd. Vito Sarines and Patrick Tambalque posted Top 20 finishes in their respective divisions.
Sarines placed 14th in the boys’ 9-10 after a 72 while Tambalque shot a second straight one-under-par 70 for a share of 17th in the boys’ 13-14.
The other top performers were Alessandra Luciano in the girls’ 13-14, Ralph Rian Batican in the boys’ 11-12, Nicole Gaisano Gan in the girls’ 11-12, Aerin Chan in the girls’ 9-10, Alonzo Retuerto in the boys’ 7-8, and Brie Macasaet in the girls’ 7-8.
Here are the scores of Filipino participants:
Boys’ 15-18 – Jaden Dumdumaya 221 (74-69-78), T32, Santino Pineda 234 (82-76-76), T121; Sean Granada 237 (78-79-80), T166; Jacob Cajita 241 (82-82-77), 175; Zach Castro 243 (82-83-78), T178
Girls’ 15-18 – Rianne Malixi 212 (73-70-69), T4; Grace Quintanilla 221 (75-74-72), T42; Alethea Gaccion 227 (73-77-77), T52; (T33) Anya Cedo 232 (79-77-76), T110; Reese Ng 234 (75-79-80), T125; Monique Arroyo 247 (80-83-84), T156
Boys’ 13-14 – Patrick Tambalque 212 (72-70-70), T17; Tristan Jefferson Padilla 218 (71-73-74), T45; Geoffrey Tan 223 (74-74-75), T79; Rafael Leonio 227 (77-74-76), T110
Girls’ 13-14 – Alessandra Luciano 252 (84-89-79), T86; Isabella Tabanas 252 (86-85-81), T89; Celine Abalos 268 (84-84-90), T84; Tashanah Balangauan 272 (91-92-89), T107
Boys’ 11-12 – Ralph Rian Batican 224 (75-73-76), T53; David Teves 231 (78-78-75), T92; Zianbeau Edoc 241 (80-80-81), T124; Roman Francesco Ungco 244 (82-80-82), T133; Anton Zingapan 249 (85-83-81), T136
Girls’ 11-12 – Nicole Gaisano Gan 230 (80-73-77), 38; Mona Sarines 233 (77-73-83), 42; Lisa Sarines 239 (78-78-83), T51; Precious Zaragosa 239 (82-77-80), T51; Brittany Tamayo 257 (83-84-90), T75
Boys’ 9-10 – Vito Sarines 220 (75-73-72), T14; Race Phoenix Manhit 226 (76-76-74), 28; Jared Saban 229 (75-78-76), T33; Chan Ahn 238 (82-80-76), 57
Girls’ 9-10 – Aerin Chan 232 (81-79-72), T32; Janae Galo 235 (79-78-78), 36; Rafella Adrienne Batican 249 (83-87-79), T56; Cailey Chanelle Gonzales 301 (99-96-96), 77
Boys’ 7-8 – Alonzo Retuerto 248 (77-83-88), 34; Lucas de Guzman 270 (94-88-88), 46; Scott Dee 297 (101-98-98), 50; Kenji Yamada 304 (105-101-98), 51
Girls’ 7-8 – Brianna Macasaet 194 (65-67-62), 18; Kamilla del Mundo 196 (62-71-63), T21; Eliana Mendoza 231 (82-71-78), 45
Boys’ 6-and-under – Kenzo Tan 173 (67-34-72), 7; Zoji Edoc 190 (69-49-72), 16
Girls’ 6-and-under – Winter Serapio 190 (71-40-79), 6; Stephanie Gaisano Gan 200 (82-40-78), 8
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