After a birdie-spree in a 63 marked by an eagle 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 Sunday.
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 inside seven 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 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.
She also earned invitations to three major championships, including the AIG Open, the Evian Championship and the Chevron Championship. She also gained stints in other elite championships, such as the Hana Financial Group Championship, ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open, the US Women’s Amateur Championship and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
It was a frustrating finish for Malixi, who put herself in strong contention after that remarkable seven-birdie, one-eagle feat in the third round. Despite a frontside 37, Malixi remained in contention but the recent Australian Master of the Amateurs winner missed a par-putt from six feet on the 10th and muffed her birdie bids on the next two holes.
She fell farther back with another bogey on No. 14 after driving into the fairway bunker, coming short of the green and missing a 12-footer for par.
