SILANG, Cavite. – Rianne Malixi pulled off another victory the hard way, blowing a three-stroke lead in the heat and wind but rebounding with a solid backside charge to foil Kim Seoyun with yet another 73 and remain the talking point of the ICTSI Riviera Championship here Thursday.
Malixi spiked her two-stroke victory with back-to-back birdies from No. 10 and a pair of clutch par-saving bids on Nos. 16 and 18, the last from long range on Langer’s tough finishing par-4 hole after stroking her first putt from the fringe two-and-a-half pin past the cup.
But she returned it with great resolve, dashing whatever hopes the hot-finishing Kim had for a playoff after the Korean rolled in her own par-bid from 16 feet to cap a tournament-best 68 a flight ahead.
“It was super hectic in the first nine. It was really off — my drives, irons, short game and putting. But then I told myself to like calm down and drink a lot of water.
Then I hit back-to-back birdies from No. 10 and didn’t concede consecutive putts and saved up-and-downs,” said Malixi, whose closing 39-34 matched her first two cards at the dreaded, undulating par-71 course, which yielded just a single under-par card through all three days of unforgiving test of shotmaking, mental toughness and endurance.
“I was just glad that I was able to hold my head high and I was really patient today (yesterday) and I think that’s the key,” added Malixi.
