Malixi Aims for Second US Women’s Amateur Title at Bandon Dunes
August 3, 2025 | Updated 2 hours ago
Bandon, Oregon, United States — Rianne Malixi is set to begin her quest for a consecutive title at the US Women’s Amateur, starting tomorrow at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. The 18-year-old golfer from the Philippines is looking to move past a frustrating season marred by injuries and enjoy a pain-free competition on the stunning course overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Malixi’s 2024 season was remarkable, as she became only the second player in USGA history to achieve both the US Women’s Amateur and US Girls’ Junior titles in the same year, following in the footsteps of Korean golfer Seong Eun-jeong in 2016. During the 2024 US Girls’ Junior, she claimed an astonishing victory against American Asterisk Talley with a record-setting 8&7 margin, achieving 14 birdies with no bogeys over 29 holes. She also triumphed over Talley in the Women’s Amateur final at Southern Hills Country Club.
In addition to her back-to-back USGA victories, Malixi won the 2024 Women’s Australian Master of the Amateurs and was a runner-up at the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley.
This season, she has participated in major events like the US Women’s Open and the Amundi Evian Championship, but was unable to compete in the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific in Vietnam and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur due to a lingering back injury.
Joining Malixi at Bandon Dunes is a formidable group of Asia-Pacific golfers, including four players from the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) team who dominated the European Golf Association in January’s Patsy Hankins Trophy in the UAE. This group comprises Thai golfer Eila Galitsky, Cindy Hsu Huai-chien from Chinese Taipei, Japan’s Mamika Shinchi, and Hong Kong’s Arianna Lau.
Galitsky is currently ranked seventh in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), ahead of Malixi, who sits in ninth. Other notable players in the top 50 include Korean Oh Soo-min, Hsu, Xu Ying, Park Seo-jin, Shinchi, and Lau, demonstrating the strength of the Asian contingent competing in this prestigious event.
Galitsky also holds the distinction of winning her singles match at the 2023 WAAP against England’s former top-ranked amateur, Lottie Woad, who recently turned professional and made headlines with a win at the ISPS Handa Scottish Women’s Open.
Additional notable participants include Japan’s Mana Yoshizaki, Australians Jazy Roberts and Ella Scaysbrook, and Thailand’s Pimchompoo Chaisilprungruang, among others, who together represent a diverse and competitive field at Bandon Dunes.
Malixi is expected to be in one of the top groups for the opening round, playing alongside current WAGR leader Kiara Romero and Aphrodite Deng from Canada, who recently won the US Girls’ Junior.
Historically, the last USGA event hosted at Bandon Dunes witnessed victory for China’s Ding Wenyi at the 2022 US Junior Amateur, raising optimism for Asian players participating this week.
Event Format:
The US Women’s Amateur features a starting field of 156 players. Following two rounds of stroke play on August 4-5, the field will be narrowed down to the lowest 64 players for match play. Five rounds of match play will ultimately lead to the finalists competing in a 36-hole championship match on August 10.
