Malixi storms into medal contention

Rianne Malixi provided a ray of sunshine for Filipino golfers as she carded a four-under 66 to storm into medal contention after two rounds of the women’s stroke play event of the 20th Asian Games at the East Course of the Kasugai Country Club in Aichi Prefecture, Japan on Thursday.

Starting the day tied at 14th spot following a two-under 70 in the opening round, the Duke University standout fired three straight birdies on Hole Nos. 13, 14, and 15 before slowing down with a bogey on No. 18. She, however, rediscovered her form and birdied No. 3 before another birdie on No. 8 for a 66 that put her at solo fifth with still 36 holes to play.

All in all, the 19-year-old Malixi has a good chance of slipping into the medal podium after pooling a two-day total of two-under 136 behind leader Shannon Tan of Singapore, who posted 13-under 127; Sharath Urs Pravi of India, who carded 11-under 129; and Yang Yunseo of South Korea and Ruoning Yin of China, who tallied an identical 7-under par 133.

While Malixi surged, however, the Philippine team struggled to gain ground.

Pauline del Rosario, whose 78 did not count in Wednesday’s opening round, endured another uneven day. She hit four birdies but offset them with three bogeys and two double bogeys for a 73, which counted toward the team total.

Jakarta Asian Games gold medalist Bianca Pagdanganan also failed to sustain her strong start. A bogey-bogey skid from No. 11 triggered a difficult back nine, with only one birdie against three more bogeys as she signed for a 74 that didn’t count.

With Malixi’s 66 as its low card, the Philippines struggled with a 139 and fell from a share of sixth to joint seventh with defending champion Thailand (140) at 276 in the team standings, three strokes behind India, which held the bronze-medal position with 273 after a 136.

China pulled ahead with a 268 after a 132, surging past Singapore, which slowed with a 137 after a 132 for a 269, while India dropped to third with a 136 for a 273. Hong Kong (134), China (138) and Korea (138) matched 274s.

With a 141 aggregate, Pagdanganan fell to joint 16th from a share of third at 141, while ICTSI teammate del Rosario barely improved to joint 33rd from 36th with a 151.