Yang masters the wind; Malixi ties for third

MANILA, Philippines -- Rianne Malixi’s backdoor bid to snatch the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific crown was blown away by the fierce New Zealand gusts Sunday, as the final round turned into a survival test where only one player truly thrived.

With the forecast proving ominously accurate, the winds howled from the opening tee shot, flagsticks bending and club selections becoming educated guesses rather than confident choices. 

Malixi, who began the day four strokes behind Yunseo Yang after 54 holes, needed steady aggression. Instead, the elements immediately pushed her onto the defensive.

A bogey on the first hole widened the gap. Though Malixi answered with a birdie on the third, another wind-ripped miscue cost her the stroke back on the next. After scrambling gamely to stay afloat, she double-bogeyed the ninth, effectively watching her title hopes slip further into the gusts.

All day, contenders wrestled with indecision – changing clubs at address, recalculating trajectories mid-routine, and backing off putts. But amid the chaos, Yang displayed a rare composure that separated contenders from champion.

Yang’s round wasn’t flawless – but it was fearless.

She traded two birdies against two bogeys on the front nine, refusing to let the wind dictate her tempo. Where others steered nervously, Yang committed. Her ball flights were piercing and controlled, her iron shots flighted high and dared the crosswinds. Most telling was her discipline – she chose conservative targets when necessary, but attacked decisively when opportunity presented itself.

On the back nine, she elevated her game further.

Two birdies against a lone bogey steadied her march. Then came the defining blow: an eagle-2 on the par-4 14th, struck with authority and finished with conviction. In a round that had begun as a wide-open chase, Yang turned the final stretch into a personal showcase of control, clarity and courage.

As the winds gradually eased and a light drizzle replaced the earlier gusts, Yang signed for a 69, the day’s best round, capping a four-day total of 16-under 272. The victory was emphatic – eight strokes clear of compatriot Soomin Oh, who struggled with a 75 for 280.

In doing so, Yang became the first Korean to capture the prestigious Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship, anchoring a dominant 1-2 finish and earning coveted invitations to three LPGA majors along with other elite events.

More than the margin, it was the manner of victory – under punishing, championship-level conditions – that underscored her uncanny talent.

Yang didn’t merely survive the storm. She mastered it.

Malixi, for her part, refused to surrender quietly.

After an opening-round 68 highlighted by an eagle and a brilliant 66 in the second round, she had surged into early contention. A third-round 73 in similarly breezy conditions left her four shots back – but with Sunday’s forecast predicting more wind, the deficit hardly seemed insurmountable.

Even after a wind-raked outward 39 dropped her to six-under overall – eight strokes behind Yang – Malixi found one last spark.

On the par-5 10th, she produced her second eagle there in four days, delicately holing a putt from the fringe. For a fleeting moment, the charge felt real again. The body language lifted. The putter, so often her weapon, gave her life.

But championships in brutal conditions demand not just brilliance, but precision in the smallest moments.

Immediately after the eagle, she missed a par putt from two feet – a rare lapse that visibly deflated the momentum she had just created. She failed to capitalize on the reachable 14th, settled for par, then dropped another shot on the next hole. A closing bogey erased the effect of a late birdie on No. 16.

She wound up with a 75 and finished tied for third at 282 with Australia’s Jazy Roberts, who posted the day’s only other sub-par round – a 70.

It marked Malixi’s best finish in six Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific appearances, surpassing her joint fourth in 2022. Yet this one will linger. The 2024 US Girls’ Junior and US.Women’s Amateur champion came seeking a title she has long coveted, especially after an early withdrawal in Vietnam last year.

This bid, perhaps more than the others, felt within reach.

Still, the 18-year-old Filipina – set to join Duke University later this year – proved once again she belongs on this stage. And with another appearance in Japan next year, her pursuit is far from over.