RIANNE Malixi birdied four of the last eight holes to rescue a one-under 72 but fell by four strokes behind Chinese Alice Zhao and Sophie Stevens of the US at the start of the Annika Invitational in Orlando, Florida Sunday.
Malixi produced a pair of back-to-back birdies on Nos. 11 and 16 as she battled back from a three-over card marred by a double bogey on No. 4 and a bogey on the 10th of the par-73 Eagle Creek Golf Club to salvage nines of 38-34 and join nine others at 13th place with two rounds left in the second leg of this year’s American Junior Golf Association circuit.
Zhao, 13, had a bogey-free five-under 68 while Stevens shot six birdies against a bogey as they took a one-stroke lead over Italy’s Francesca Fiorellini and Vanessa Borovilos, Ashleen Kaur and Kati Li of the US, who matched 69s in cold conditions.
Lauren Kim of Canada and Czech Denisa Vodickova stood at joint seventh with 70s.
The AJGA top guns also put themselves in early contention with No. 1 Gianna Clemente, who became only the second player in history to qualify for three consecutive LPGA Tour events last year, shooting a 71 for a share of ninth with three others, including fellow American Yana Wilson, who foiled her in last year’s US Girls’ Junior finals.
Other two-under par scorers were Michelle Liu and Macy Pate.
Malixi, whose campaign is backed by ICTSI, chipped way past the first hole but returned an eight-footer for par, made a routine par on the second and missed a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 3. She struggled on the long 528-yard par-5 No. 4, missing the green and chipping short to end up with a double bogey.
