Gwon, Malixi rebound in playoff to claim top honors at Riviera
Min Wook Gwon and Rianne Malixi squandered big leads under pressure but recovered in the playoff to rally past Japanese Atsushi Ueda and Abby Arevalo, respectively, and crown themselves the National Stroke Play champions at Riviera’s Langer course in Silang, Cavite yesterday.
Just when they thought they had heard the last of their rivals after seizing firm control through 54 holes, Gwon and Malixi found Atsushi and Arevalo back in the hunt with one big shot after another to claw back from seven and three strokes down, respectively. Both, however, failed to cling on after grabbing the lead in the pressure-packed stretch, paving the way for a pair of sudden deaths.
But while Gwon, who limped with a 79 in regulation to finish at 295, took just one sudden death hole to frustrate Ueda, who missed clinching it with a last-hole bogey for a 72, Malixi needed three extra holes to finish off Arevalo on a parbogey result like in the men’s finals, both on No. 1.
Malixi and Arevalo, who finished tied at 287 after 73 and 70, respectively, matched pars in the first two playoff holes on Nos. 1 and 18 but after the former dumped her approach shot in the greenside bunker in their third trip in the par-4 opening hole in the day, the latter overshot the green and into deep roughs and missed a par-saving putt from eight feet.
In contrast, the 12-year-old Malixi kept her composure and blasted to within six feet and made the putt to snare the victory, becoming the youngest winner in what used to be the Philippine Amateur Golf Championship, the kickoff leg of the PLDT Group National Amateur Tour.