By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Rianne Malixi’s reign at the Australian Master of the Amateurs ended on Monday, Jan. 6, after closing out with 1-over-par 74 in Victoria, Australia.
Still, the Filipina ace finished solo third with a four-round total of 3-under- 289 after earlier rounds of 74, 68 and 73, three strokes behind eventual champion Yang Hyojin.
Yang seized the title from third-round leader Ella Scaysbrook after firing an even 73 for a 286 aggregate following rounds of 72, 70 and 71.
The South Korean started off with a double bogey and two bogeys in the first four holes before blitzing the field with four birdies.
Scaysbrook, for her part, lost her touch and skied to a 77, but still managed with a 288 to finish two strokes behind Yang.
Malixi, who started the final round in contention for the crown, gunned down four birdies against two bogeys in her first 11 holes but stumbled with a bogey on the par-3 12th hole.
What spelled to the title-retention bid of the reigning US Girls’ Junior and US Women’s Amateur was a double-bogey on the 13th.
Though she managed to keep her pace in the succeeding holes, Malixi ran out of holes.
Meanwhile, Jazy Roberts and Sarah Hammett shared fourth to fifth places with identical 290s after posting 74 and 75, respectively. Ann Jang (75) settled for sixth with 292, followed by Shyla Singh (72) and Haruhi Nakatani (76) with 294, Amelia Harris (77) with 295, and Raegan Denton (79) with 297.
