Blue Devils Open ACCs Tied for Second; Malixi, Li in Top Six Individually

WILMINGTON, N.C. – The Duke women's golf team opened the 2026 ACC Championship Thursday with a 12-under-par ledger through 36 holes and currently sits tied for second with 18 holes remaining in stroke play at the 6,197-yard, par-72 Porters Neck Country Club in Wilmington.

The Blue Devils were hot out of the gate carding a 12-under-par, 275, in round one and then turned in a 1-over, 289, in round two in the afternoon. Duke features a 36-hole score of 564 and is tied with SMU for second overall, while Stanford leads the field with a 23-under, 553.

Duke freshman Rianne Malixi turned in bogey-free rounds of 67 and 68 Thursday and is second overall with a 9-under, 135, while junior Katie Li is tied for sixth with a 4-under, 140, after totaling scores of 69 and 71. Malixi enters the final round two stroke behind individual leader Paula Martin Sampedro (133).

Following Friday's final round of stroke play, the top six teams will advance to match play and an individual champion will be crowned.

HOW IT HAPPENED – ROUND ONE

The Blue Devils had a solid start to the day and eventually took their first lead on the back nine at 12-under-par.
Rianne Malixi turned in a bogey-free 5-under, 67, to open play. She rolled in her first birdie of the morning from 20 feet on No. 2 and then drained a 6-footer for birdie on No. 9 to make the turn at 2-under. Malixi then hit her 52-degree wedge from 42 yards to 3-feet for birdie on the 374-yard, par-4 12th hole. She closed with birdies on the final two par-five holes as she connected on a 4-footer on No. 15 and 5-footer on No. 17 to finish with a 67. Malixi hit 16 greens, 13 fairways and had 29 putts.
Katie Li had the hottest start of the morning as she birdied the first three holes to reach 3-under quickly. She hit her 50-degree wedge from 109 yards to two feet on No. 1 for birdie, sank an 18-footer for birdie on No. 2 and then hit her pitching wedge from 115 yards to seven feet on No. 3. Li parred the next seven holes and then bogeyed No. 10. After a 34-footer for birdie on No. 12, she hit her 54-degree wedge from 80 yards to a foot on No. 15 for birdie to get to 4-under. Li suffered a bogey on No. 16 and parred the final two holes to finish with a 3-under, 69. She hit 16 greens, 11 fairways and rolled 32 putts.
In her first tournament since early March, freshman Avery McCrery carded a 3-under, 69, in round one with four birdies. After parring the first two holes, she bogeyed No. 3 and then parred the next five. McCrery then played the final 10 holes at 4-under with a 15-footer on No. 9, 40-footer on No. 11 and a 30-footer on No. 15. She then hit her 8-iron from 132 yards to five feet on No. 16 on her way to finishing with a 69. She hit 15 greens and 11 fairways.
Graduate student Andie Smith had a strong first round with a 2-under, 70, with five birdies. She totaled birdies on No. 2, No. 6 and No. 8 to move to 3-under on the front nine. After a bogey on No. 9, she got a shot back with a birdie on No. 11. Smith bogeyed No. 13 and No. 16, while totaling her fifth birdie on the 15th to finish with a 70.
Anna Cañado Espinal had a slow start with a bogey on No. 1 and double-bogey on No. 4, but played her final 14 holes at even-par. She totaled a 13-foot birdie on No. 8 and then hit her 54-degree wedge from 93 yards to three feet for birdie on No. 13. Cañado Espinal finished with a 3-over, 75, as she hit 16 greens and rolled 36 putts.

HOW IT HAPPENED – ROUND TWO

Duke opened the second round on hole No. 10.
Rianne Malixi continued her hot play as she drained a 25-footer for birdie on No. 11 and then connected on back-to-back birdies on No. 16 and No. 17. She rolled in a 10-footer on No. 16 and then hit her 52-degree wedge from 45 yards for a tap-in birdie on No. 17. Malixi made the turn with a 3-under, 33. On the final nine, she had one final birdie on the 333-yard, par-4 third hole and had eight pars to finish with a 68. She hit 14 fairways, 16 greens and had 30 putts.
Katie Li opened round two with a bogey on No. 10 and then connected on an 8-footer for birdie on No. 13. She hit her 7-iron from 134 yards to 12 feet for birdie on No. 16 to get to 1-under. Li had five pars, two birdies on No. 4 and No. 5 and two bogeys over her final nine holes to finish with a 71. She hit 16 greens on the afternoon.
After parring the first four holes of the second round, Avery McCrery bogeyed No. 14, No. 17 and No. 1. She was striping the ball well on the way in, but couldn't get many putts to drop. She did hit her 6-iron from 158 yards to 10 feet for birdie on No. 7 as she finished with a 74. McCrery hit 14 greens and had 35 putts.
Anna Cañado Espinal turned in three birdies and shot a 76 in round two, while Andie Smith was held without a birdie and signed for a 78.

NOTES

Duke led the field for par-3 scoring with a 5-under, 2.88, score.
The Blue Devils ranked tied for second with 33 birdies.
Rianne Malixi had nine birdies over the first 36 holes to rank tied for fourth.
Malixi's 36-hole score of 135 was tied for a Duke record for lowest 36-hole score on a par-72 course in ACC Championship play.
Malixi's 5-under, 67, is the lowest 18-hole score for Duke in the first round in ACC Championship play.
Malixi owns seven rounds in the 60s this season to rank fourth-most in Duke freshman history.
Katie Li totaled her 34th and 35th rounds of even or under par and her 15th career round in the 60s.
Andie Smith now owns 48 career rounds of even or under par.
Avery McCrery tied a career low with her 3-under, 69. She now owns 10 rounds of even or under par out of 20 overall rounds.
Duke's 12-under, 275, was a new Blue Devil record for lowest 18-hole score in ACC Championship play on a par-72 course.

WHAT IS NEXT

Duke will tee off beginning at 9:40 a.m., Friday in the final round of stroke play along with Stanford and SMU.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's golf, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWGOLF".

#GoDuke

Duke Results
Rianne Malixi                       67-68=135 (2, -9)
Katie Li                                  69-71=140 (T6, -4)
Avery McCrery                     69-74=143 (T14, -1)
Andie Smith                          70-78=148 (T46, +4)
Anna Cañado Espinal         75-76=151 (T61, +7)
Team                                     275-289=564 (T2, -12)