Blue Devils Jump to Tied for Sixth After 36 Holes at NCAA Championship

CARLSBAD, Calif. – The Duke women's golf team continued its solid play Saturday at the NCAA Championship as the ninth-seeded Blue Devils carded a 2-under-par, 286, to jump 10 spots up the leaderboard to a tie for sixth through 36 holes at the 6,271-yard, par-72 Omni La Costa Resort & Spa North Course in Carlsbad.

Duke registered one of only seven under-par rounds Saturday as a team as the Blue Devils registered 18 birdies. With a 36-hole score of 577, the Blue Devils are tied for sixth along with SMU, but Duke is only one stroke out of fourth.

The Blue Devils were paced by freshman Rianne Malixi with a 3-under-par, 69, to move into a tie for 16th, individually, and graduate student Andie Smith with a 2-under, 70. All five Duke golfers shot 75 or better in the second round.

Following Sunday's third round, the top 15 teams and the low nine individuals not on those teams advance to Monday's final round of stroke play.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Duke opened action Saturday morning at 7:25 a.m., local time off hole No. 1.
The Blue Devils were 5-under-par over the first five holes, but went through a stretch where Duke dropped six shots over holes 7-9. Duke came back though with 10 birdies during holes 10-15 to jump back up the leaderboard. The Blue Devils shot 5-under-par on those holes.
Rianne Malixi parred the first hole and then reeled off birdies on three consecutive holes. She hit her 52-degree wedge from 85 yards on the 531-yard, par-5 second hole and then rolled in an 8-foot birdie on No. 3. Malixi, a native of Manila, Philippines, then hit her 48-degree wedge from 110 yards on No. 4 for birdie to reach 3-under-par. She played the next nine holes at 2-over-par to fall back to 1-under. Malixi totaled her fourth birdie on the 374-yard, par-4 No. 14 as she hit her 7-iron from 139 yards to two feet and then rolled in another birdie on No. 15 as she sank a 15-foot birdie. She hit the green in two on the final hole, but three-putted for par from a long distance to finish with a 69. Malixi hit a team-best 16 greens, 13 fairways and had 31 putts.
With a 2-under, 70, Saturday, Andie Smith moved 59 spots up the individual leaderboard into a tie for 27th. She parred the first hole and then drained a 10-foot birdie on No. 2. Smith, who is from Hobe Sound, Florida, played the next nine holes at 1-over-par with eight pars and one bogey. She got hot over the next four holes with three birdies. Smith hit her 6-iron from 167 yards to eight feet for birdie on No. 12, got up-and-down for par on No. 13 and then rolled in a 20-foot birdie on the 374-yard, par-4 No. 14. She connected on her fourth birdie of the day on No. 15 with a 15-foot birdie putt. Smith bogeyed No. 16 and parred the final two holes to finish with a 70. She hit 14 greens and had 29 putts.
Junior Katie Li had another solid round signing for a 1-over, 73, and is tied for 46th overall through 36 holes with a 2-over, 146. After parring the first three holes, Li suffered a bogey and then hit her 7-iron from 160 yards on the 370-yard, par-4 fifth to five feet for birdie. She dropped two shots over the next five holes. Li, a product of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, drained an 18-footer for birdie on No. 11 and then hit her 6-iron from 163 yards on the 383-yard, par-4 No. 13 to three feet for birdie to return to even par. She suffered a bogey on No. 16 and parred the final two holes. She hit 14 greens and 10 fairways.
Coming off carding a 1-under-par, 71, on day one, freshman Avery McCrery signed for a 2-over, 74 Saturday. She was 1-under-par through the first seven holes with a 15-foot birdie on the third hole. McCrery then closed the front nine with four pars, two bogeys and a key up-and-down on No. 7. She opened the back nine by rolling in a birdie on No. 10 and then parred the next six holes. McCrery, who hails from Wilmington, Delaware, suffered back-to-back bogeys to close her day with a 74. She hit 13 greens and 11 fairways.
Anna Cañado Espinal turned in a solid round Saturday with a 3-over, 75, with four birdies. After opening with four pars, Cañado Espinal bogeyed three straight holes. She then played her final 11 holes at even-par. Cañado Espinal, a native of Barcelona, Spain, rolled in a 9-foot birdie on No. 8, 15-footer for birdie on No. 10, 21-footer for birdie on No. 14 and hit her 50-degree wedge from 117 yards on No. 17 to six feet for birdie. She hit 12 fairways, 11 greens and had 30 putts.
Stanford leads the championship with a 12-under, 564, with Southern California (567), Oklahoma State (569), Iowa State (576), Arkansas (576), Duke (577) and SMU (577) in the top seven.

NOTES

Duke leads the field with 35 birdies over the first two days. The 35 birdies are the most by the Blue Devils through 36 holes this season.
Rianne Malixi posted the tied for third-lowest 18-hole score in Duke's NCAA Championship history by a freshman on par-72 course with her 3-under, 69. Overall, Malixi's 69 is tied for 10th-lowest by a Duke golfer in the NCAA Championship on a par-72 course.
Malixi's 36-hole score of 142 is tied for the second-lowest by a Blue Devil freshman on a par-72 course.
Malixi owns nine birdies over the first two days to lead Duke. She ranks tied for first for the tournament with a 4-under-par score on par-4 holes.
Malixi totaled her 16th round of even or under par on the year and eighth round in the 60s. In the Duke freshman record book, she now ranks tied for second in rounds in the 60s (8).
Andie Smith's 2-under, 70, was a career-best in the NCAA Championship for the graduate student. She now owns 15 even or under par rounds in 2025-26 and 51 over her Duke career.
Smith now owns 340 all-time birdies as a Blue Devil to move into sixth place passing current LPGA standouts Celine Boutier (338) and Ana Belac (333).
Duke's 2-under-par, 286, is tied for the Blue Devils' fifth-lowest on a par-72 course at NCAAs.
The Blue Devils lead the field with a 2-under score on par-3 holes.
Farah O'Keefe (Texas), Kajsalotta Svarvar (Ole Miss) and Meja Ortengren (Stanford) are tied for the individual lead with a 6-under, 138.

QUOTES

"We played solid again today, the same sort of steady determination as yesterday but smarter golf." -- Duke head coach Dan Brooks
"I think a big part of today was just staying patient. Knowing that we had the morning tee time slot and there wasn't going to be as much wind - taking advantage of those opportunities where the golf course played a little bit easier than it did the day prior with the wind. Just staying patient, making sure that I was putting myself in good spots in the fairways and on the greens really helped." -- Duke graduate student Andie Smith
"Well, I kind of revised my game - my management on the course today. Yesterday, I blew some really good opportunity holes, and I scored 3-over on the par fives. So, that was something that really costed me. I shot 1-over, but I could have shot 3-under easily. Then I kind of revised [my plan]. It was a bit better today, par-5 scoring, I shot even, but I left a couple holes out there. But I'd say I think the course management was a lot better today, which gave me more room for birdie opportunities." -- Duke freshman Rianne Malixi

WHAT IS NEXT

Duke will tee off in the third round beginning at 10:25 a.m. (ET) Sunday, off hole No. 1 along with Texas and Eastern Michigan. Live scoring is available here and fans can also watch live here.

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                                 73-69=142 (T16, -2)
Andie Smith                                    74-70=144 (T27, E)
Avery McCrery                               71-74=145 (T38, +1)
Katie Li                                            73-73=146 (T46, +2)
Anna Cañado Espinal                   78-75=153 (T128, +9)
Team                                               291-286=577 (T6, +1)