Malixi faces American in U.S. Girls quarters

Rianne Malixi faced a real challenge on her quest for the title on Thursday morning. But she hurdled it well enough to cruise to an afternoon triumph.

Now the path to the US Girls Junior Golf Championship quarterfinals is swung open for the 17-year-old Filipino starting Friday.

“One key factor for sure is my irons,” Malixi said.

“They were a lot better. But I made a lot of clutch putts in both of my matches today. I’ll credit that to my putter.”

“It’s amazing. I know it’s not going to be easy, but, yeah, just honored to reach quarterfinals [again] and hope for the best.”

Standing in her way in the Final Eight is American Madison Messimer on Saturday.

Last year’s runner-up, Malixi needed an extra hole to eliminate University of Virginia incoming golfer and US National Development Program grant recipient Kennedy Swedick, of Albany, N.Y., in the Round of 32.

A birdie on the par-5 19th did the trick for Malixi who has had four birdies in playing the same hole five times this week.

That only solidified the resolve of the Duke University signee later in the Round of 16, beating Canada’s Yanling Elaine Yu, 6-and-5, to make the quarterfinals.

The quarterfinals and semifinals will be contested on Friday, beginning at 7 a.m. (10 p.m. Manila time), and 12:15 p.m., respectively. Saturday’s 36-hole championship match is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. (11:30 p.m. Manila time) and will continue following the break for lunch.

Messimer, another low seed at No. 58, looked defeated on the par-3 16th tee as she trailed Kathryn Ha, 3 down. But she won the last three holes and then eliminated on the 20th hole. Earlier on Thursday, she knocked out Oregon State rising sophomore Raya Nakao, 2-and-1.