Rianne Malixi shakes off visa woes, starts strong in U.S. Women's Amateur title defense

USA Today

2 days ago

BANDON, Ore. — Rianne Malixi almost didn't get to defend her U.S. Women's Amateur title.
The 18-year-old from the Philippines was set to travel to Oregon for her title defense last Tuesday, but she and her family quickly discovered a problem. An issue surrounding her student visa had come up, sending her and her family into a scramble to get it fixed. Late last week, she was still halfway across the country and questioning whether she would even be in Oregon for her Monday morning tee time.
That makes her opening-round performance even more impressive.
Malixi signed for a bogey-free 4-under 68 on Monday, tying the early lead in the stroke-play portion of the U.S. Women's Amateur at Bandon Dunes. She didn't get to the Pacific Coast of Oregon until late Saturday, having enough time for only a nine-hole practice round before 18 on Sunday. Add in trying to adjust her biological clock and get over any jet lag from her journey, it was a spectacular round to kick off her title defense.
"The past few weeks have been really tough for me," Malixi said. "This is only my second under-par round in two months. I haven't been playing really well. I'll take this game as a really good opportunity to keep it going for the weekend."
Malixi, who will begin college this fall at Duke, is tied with Julia Misemer, a rising senior at Arizona, and Cindy Hsu, a fellow rising senior at Texas, at 4 under.
Malixi mentioned how recent rules surrounding visas have made them more difficult to obtain, and there was a typhoon in the Philippines last week, adding to the stress of trying to make it to the United States.
Her family was in contact with the Philippean government to assist in the process, and Duke coach Dan Brooks and the school also assisted in getting the visa approved.
Once Malixi had the document in hand, she was on a flight six hours later.
"Worst-case scenario, I'm not going to play. Best-case scenario, I might miss the practice round," Malixi said. "Then boom, I just got a notification that, hey, passport's ready to pick up."
On top of the visa issues, Malixi missed numerous championships earlier this year due to a back injury she suffered while playing on the Asian Tour. It got worse when she competed in the Asia-Pacific Women's Amateur, and it forced her to take three weeks off without swinging a club.
More: U.S. Women's Amateur live updates: Scores, first-round tee times, highlights at Bandon Dunes
In that period, she had to withdraw from the Augusta National Women's Amateur, the Chevron Championship and the LPGA's JM Eagle LA Championship.
"It was a bummer, but it was wise for me to pull out and just take a break," she said.
Malixi didn't get to defend her title at the U.S. Girls' Junior last month, one of two USGA titles she won in 2024, because she was playing in the Amundi Evian Championship the week before and couldn't travel from Europe to the United States. This week, she finally gets her shot at defending the biggest victory of her life.
Malixi's face is plastered on signs across Bandon Dunes, and she'll be a familiar face on signage at USGA championships for years in the future. And even as her stellar play in the world's top amateur events continued Monday.
"I'm gonna feel camera shy the next few days," Malixi said. "My coach keeps bragging about it. I can't bring myself to look at it, but I'm just really happy with what I did last year."