Rianne Malixi’s bid for a second US Women’s Amateur crown ended in heartbreaking fashion Friday (Saturday Manila time) as China’s Yujie Liu held her nerve on the extra hole to eliminate the Filipina ace and advance to the Last 16 of the prestigious championship at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee.
Malixi appeared headed for another stirring comeback after erasing a two-hole deficit late in their Round-of-32 match, but Liu kept her composure when it mattered most, making a gutsy par on the 19th hole to deny the former champion.
The two returned to the par-4 No. 1 for the playoff after Malixi forced the match to extra holes by matching Liu’s par with a clutch chip for a four-foot par putt on No. 18.
Both players had previously parred the opening hole, but Liu produced another steady finish in the playoff, while Malixi failed to get up-and-down, allowing the 26th-seeded Chinese to escape with the victory and a place in the third round.
It was a particularly tough setback for Malixi, who had fought her way into the match-play stage by barely making the cut in the stroke-play elims at No. 58. She then announced her presence in emphatic fashion by routing seventh-seeded Jasmine Koo, 6and5, in the opening round of head-to-head play.
Against Liu, however, Malixi was forced to chase from the outset.
The Chinese won holes No. 4 and 5 to seize an early advantage, but Malixi quickly settled down and answered with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 6 and 7 to pull the match back to all square.
Liu refused to buckle.
She reclaimed the lead on the eighth hole despite making bogey, taking advantage of Malixi’s costly double bogey on the par-3. Liu then moved two holes ahead again with a par on No. 10 after Malixi dropped another shot with a double bogey.
Malixi continued to fight, though, producing a birdie on No. 13 to cut into the deficit. Liu responded immediately with a clutch birdie of her own on the par-3 14th to restore her two-hole cushion.
The match then turned into a tense exchange down the stretch.
After the two traded birdies on No. 15, Malixi finally made her move, winning the 16th with a par before birdieing the par-5 next to pull level for the first time since the early stages of the match.
With momentum firmly on her side, Malixi reached the 18th needing another solid finish to complete the comeback. Liu matched her with par, but Malixi’s clutch chip set up the par-saving effort that sent the match into an extra hole.
The drama continued on the return to No. 1, where Liu delivered the decisive blow with another composed par.
Malixi’s failure to convert her up-and-down opportunity ended a spirited fightback and sent her out of the championship, while Liu advanced to a Last 16 meeting with No. 23 seed Bailey Shoemaker.
Shoemaker also produced an upset Friday, edging 10th-seeded Korean Soomin Oh, 1-up.
Top seed Anna Iwanaga of Japan likewise survived a close contest, defeating Natalie Blonien, 1-up, to set up a Last 16 clash with Canada’s Michelle Xing, who held off Molly Smith, 2and1.
For Malixi, the defeat brings an end to another run at the championship she conquered in 2024, when the Duke University freshman capped a remarkable season by winning the US Women’s Amateur and earlier capturing the US Girls’ Junior title.
Her latest campaign ends earlier than she had hoped, but not without another display of the resilience and fighting spirit that have marked her rise on the international amateur golf stage.
This time, though, Liu had the final answer.