Ace Superal and Rianne Malixi ruled their respective age-group divisions in varying fashions in the 12th FCG (Future Champions Golf) International Championship at the Singing Hills Golf in El Cajon, California last Friday.
Superal pulled through in a pressure-packed finish, hitting a clutch birdie on the par-5 No. 7 for a huge three-shot swing to salvage an even-par 71 and foil Chinese-Taipei’s Chun-Wei Wu by three in the girls’ 13-14 division with a 141 total.
Wu, who double-bogeyed the seventh, ended up with a 74 for a 144.
Malixi earlier completed a wire-to-wire triumph in the 11-12 play as the reigning Philippine Amateur Open overall champion fired a 69 and 71 for a 140 and routed US-based Thai Natrada Pongsasin (70-74) and Arianna Lau (71-73) of Hong Kong by four.
Wu matched Superal’s opening 70 and the duo, teeing off at the backside of the par-71 Willow Glen, remained tied with eight holes left in the 36-hole championship before the Taiwanese pounced on The Country Club mainstay’s bogey on No. 2 to take command.
But after both traded bogeys on No. 5, Superal birdied the par-3 No. 6 from six feet and surged ahead as Wu three-putted for bogey. Gaining control and momentum, the younger sister of former US Girls’ Junior champion Princess hacked a solid drive on the next hole to set up an easy birdie then watched her rival succumb to pressure and holed out with a 7.
