Rianne Malixi has officially arrived.
The Duke freshman notched her first college win Tuesday at the Sea Best Intercollegiate, shooting 16 under in three rounds at San Jose Country Club in Jacksonville, Florida. She finished two shots clear of Florida’s Paula Francisco, though the Gators edged the Blue Devils by one for the team title.
Malixi’s winning score of 200 is a Duke record, while her final-round 9-under 63 tied a program low.
The victory marks a shift for Malixi, who had yet to see her amateur success translate to the collegiate game. In three fall starts for the Blue Devils, she didn’t finish better than T-17.
Two summers ago, Malixi, of the Philippines, won both the U.S. Girls’ Junior and U.S. Women’s Amateur, and this past year, she co-medaled with Asterisk Talley in her U.S. Women’s Amateur defense before being upset in the first round of match play. While Malixi has reached as high as third in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, she battled a back injury last spring, an issue that forced her to withdraw from the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, and has since slipped to No. 23 in the world.
Stetson finished third in the otherwise weak field, 59 shots behind Florida.