AFTER a birdie-spree in a 63 marked by an eagle last Saturday, Rianne Malixi grappled with her putter when she needed it most, finishing with a 73 for joint fifth in the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship won by Chun-Wei Wu in wire-to-wire fashion in Pattaya, Thailand yesterday.
Malixi, who moved to second, four strokes off the Taiwanese after setting a championship record in the third round, struggled to maintain her position in the final round despite Wu’s fumbling start at the Siam Country Club’s Waterside course, missing several birdie opportunities in a stint marred by a couple of flubbed par putts within 7 feet.
In contrast, Wu checked a bogey-par-bogey start with birdies on Nos. 4 and 6 then endured another miscue on No. 9 and Korean Hyosong Lee’s stretch-run charge to secure the championship with a closing 72 for an 18-under 270 total.
Lee birdied three of the last six holes to shoot a 69 in a flight ahead, pulling to within one off the 19-year-old Wu, who, however, all but clinched the championship with a clutch birdie from long range on the course’s toughest hole, No. 17, to regain a two-stroke lead.
The Korean settled for second with a 272.
“It was incredible and very happy to be a champion. The final round wasn’t good because I got a lot of bogeys,” said Wu, who also picked up a stroke on the drivable 256-yard No. 15, which Malixi also birdied from three feet to end the drought.
Achiraya Sriwong likewise mounted a late assault to threaten within one with a fifth straight birdie on No. 12 for a running six-under card. The Thai, however, bogeyed the 13th but regained the stroke on No. 15 to place third at 273.
Pimpisa Rubrong, also from Thailand, ended up fourth with a 274 after a 70 while world No. 4 Minsol Kim from Korea rallied with a 68 for joint fifth with Malixi at 275.
Malixi, apart from a couple of mishits resulting in bogeys, displayed superb driving skills but faced challenges finding her range, especially in the closing holes, leaving her with long birdie chances.
Despite starting the final round four strokes behind Wu, Malixi, 16, narrowed the gap to two due to Wu’s faulty start. However, birdies, which came abundantly in the previous round, proved elusive for Malixi, resulting in pars and a bogey in the first five holes at the back, ultimately bowing out of the title race.
Wu thus became the second Taiwanese to win the region’s premier championship after pal Ting-Hsuan Huang topped the 2022 edition, also at Siam’s Waterside layout, where the former placed 51st.
