Malixi Places Second; Duke Advances to Match Play at ACC Championship

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Duke women's golf freshman Rianne Malixi carded an 11-under-par, 205, over 54 holes en route to a second-place finish at the ACC Championship contested at the 6,197-yard, par-72 Porters Neck Country Club in Wilmington

As a team, Duke collected rounds of 275, 289 and 287 for a 13-under, 851, to place fourth overall. The top six teams advanced to match play and the fourth-seeded Blue Devils will face fifth-seeded NC State Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m., off hole No. 10 in the quarterfinals.

The Blue Devils' 54-hole score of 851 was the lowest in program history on a par-72 course at the ACC Championship. Malixi, who hails from Manila, Philippines, turned in the second-lowest 54-hole score in Duke's ACC history.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Both Rianne Malixi and Andie Smith featured great starts to Friday's final round as Malixi was 3-under through eight holes and Smith was 2-under through eight as well.
Malixi opened with a par and then rolled in a 10-foot birdie on No. 2. After she sank an 8-footer for birdie on the 333-yard, par-3 third hole, Malixi parred the next four. She reached the par-5 eighth hole in two and 2-putted for birdie to move to 3-under. Malixi hit the fairway bunker on No. 10 and suffered her first bogey of the tournament. She closed the day with eight pars in a row to finish with a 2-under, 70. Malixi hit 16 greens, 11 fairways and had 34 putts.
Smith, a native of Hobe Sound, Florida, hit her 54-degree wedge from 93 yards on No. 1 and sank a 5-foot birdie to kick off her round. She then parred six in a row, before hitting her 5-iron from 190 yards on the par-5 eighth hole to about pin high and 2-putted for birdie. After a double-bogey on No. 9, Smith played the final nine holes at 2-under with birdies on No. 13 and No. 15. She hit her 50-degree wedge from 113 yards to a foot on the 13th and rolled in a 10-foot birdie on No. 15. She hit 15 greens and had 31 putts on the day.
Junior Katie Li bogeyed No. 1 and then parred three in a row. She hit her 4-hybrid from 220 yards on the par-5 fifth hole and landed on the green. Li, who is from Basking Ridge, New Jersey, 2-putted for birdie to return to even. After a bogey on No. 7, she once again 2-putted for birdie on the par-5 eighth. Over the final 10 holes, Li collected eight pars, a bogey on No. 16 and a 3-foot birdie on the par-5 No. 17, after hitting her 58-degree wedge from 55 yards. She stuck 15 greens and 12 fairways. Li tied for 11th overall with 4-under, 212.
For the second day in a row, freshman Avery McCrery was hitting it well, but couldn't get putts to drop and finished with a 3-over, 75. She opened the morning with a par, double-bogey and five pars in a row. McCrery, a product of Wilmington, Delaware, got up-and-down for birdie on No. 8 and parred four in a row following. She suffered back-to-back 3-putt bogeys on No. 13 and No. 14, but came back on No. 15 to hit the green in two from 236 yards away and 2-putted for birdie. She closed with two pars and a bogey on No. 17.
Anna Cañado Espinal had a slow start as she was 4-over through 10 holes. She started to turn things around with birdies on No. 14 and No. 15, but suffered a 3-putt bogey on No. 16 and double-bogey on No. 17 to finish with a 77.

NOTES

Stanford won the team title with an 831, while SMU (842), Wake Forest (850), Duke (851), NC State (852) and North Carolina (856) advanced to match play.
Paula Martin Sampedro of Stanford shot a 14-under, 202, to win the individual title.
As a team, Duke finished with 47 birdies, which tied for fourth overall.
Andie Smith totaled her 49th career round of even or under par to move into a tie for ninth on Duke's all-time charts.
Katie Li now owns 36 career rounds of even or under par and five have come in ACC Championship action. Her tied for 11th finish was the highest in her career at the ACC Championship.
Rianne Malixi has now shot a combined 31-under-par over the last four events. She has finished no worse than tied for third in all of those tournaments. Malixi has totaled 13 rounds of even or under par now this year.
Malixi had a school-record 45-hole stretch of bogey free action spanning the three rounds.
Duke is competing in match play at the ACC Championship for the first time since 2023. Since the ACC adopted match play to decide the champion, the Blue Devils have participated in match play four of those six years.

QUOTES

"It's been fun to watch the ACC become an incredibly strong conference. Rianne didn't quite win individually, but she was up against a bunch of great players in this field - including Stanford. Second place in this field was excellent golf. I'm glad we're moving on to match play and really excited to see what happens." – Duke head coach Dan Brooks

WHAT IS NEXT

No. 4 seeded Duke will face No. 5 seed NC State Saturday, April 18 at 7:30 a.m., off hole No. 10. The winner will advance to take on top-seeded Stanford at 1:30 p.m., Saturday.

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

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Duke Results
Rianne Malixi                       67-68-70=205 (2, -11)
Katie Li                                  69-71-72=212 (T11, -4)
Avery McCrery                     69-74-75=218 (T35, +2)
Andie Smith                          70-78-70=218 (T35, +2)
Anna Cañado Espinal         75-76-77=228 (65, +12)
Team                                     275-289-287=564 (4, -13)

No. 4 Seed Duke vs. No. 5 Seed NC State
7:30 a.m. – Avery McCrery (DU) vs. Vania Simont (NCSU)
7:40 a.m. – Andie Smith (DU) vs. Marie Madsen (NCSU)
7:50 a.m. – Rianne Malixi (DU) vs. Ellie Hildreth (NCSU)
8:00 a.m. – Anna Cañado Espinal (DU) vs. Lindsay McGrath (NCSU)
8:10 a.m. – Katie Li (DU) vs. Betsy Sullivan (NCSU)