Malixi in Top 10; Blue Devils Move on to Monday’s Final Round of Stroke Play

CARLSBAD, Calif. – Duke women's golf freshman Rianne Malixi moved into the top 10 of the individual leaderboard Sunday, while the Blue Devils advanced to Monday's final round of stroke play at the NCAA Championship, which is being held at the 6,271-yard, par-72 Omni La Costa Resort & Spa North Course in Carlsbad.

A native of Manila, Philippines, Malixi has carded rounds of 73, 69 and 68 for a 6-under-par, 210, to move into a tie for eighth and four shots off the individual lead with 18 holes remaining. She became just the fourth Blue Devil to post back-to-back rounds in the 60s during an NCAA Championship.

The Blue Devils registered a 1-over, 289, in the third round Sunday and currently sit tied for seventh with a 54-hole total of 2-over, 866. The top 15 teams advanced to Monday's final round and then the top eight after 72 holes move on to match play beginning Tuesday.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Duke teed off on hole No. 1 at 7:25 a.m. (PT) Sunday morning.
Rianne Malixi continued her stellar play Sunday as she fired a bogey-free, 4-under-par, 68 with four birdies. She opened with four pars and then struck her 8-iron from 134 yards to three feet for birdie on the 370-yard, par-4 fifth hole. After five more pars, Malixi hit her drive on the 285-yard, par-4 No. 11 hole into the greenside bunker and then drained a 7-foot birdie to get to 2-under. She added five pars and birdies on No. 15 and No. 18 to finish with her ninth round of the season in the 60s. Malixi is tied for eighth overall with a 6-under, 210. She hit 16 greens, 13 fairways and rolled 30 putts in the third round.
After opening with a double-bogey on hole No. 1, Andie Smith played the next 17 holes at 2-under-par to finish with an even-par, 72. She turned in key up-and-downs on No. 4 and No. 7 to continue with her solid day. On No. 4, she made a 15-foot par putt, after being in the greenside sand trap and then on No. 7 hit a bump and run with her 7-iron to six feet for par. Smith, who is from Hobe Sound, Florida, collected a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 6 and then notched a sand save for par on No. 9 to make the turn at 1-over, 37. On the back, Smith got up-and-down from the bunker on No. 10, before hitting her 60-degree wedge from 79 yards to five feet for birdie on No. 11. She moved to 1-under with a 4-footer for birdie on No. 15, but suffered a double-bogey on No. 16 to follow. She rebounded strongly by hitting her 54-degree wedge from 99 yards to five feet for birdie on No. 17 and parred No. 18. She had 27 putts, 11 greens and 11 fairways.
Junior Katie Li carded her third 1-over-par, 73, in a row with three birdies on the day. She had a slow start with two bogeys over her first five holes, but got things going by sinking a 9-foot birdie on No. 6. She had a bogey on No. 7 and then parred the next five holes. Li, a product of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, rolled in a 12-foot birdie on No. 13, bogeyed No. 14 and then hit her 54-degree wedge from 87 yards on No. 17 to three feet for birdie. She hit 14 greens and had 33 putts on the day.
Freshman Avery McCrery chipped in for birdie from 27 yards to open her day on hole No. 1. She suffered bogeys on No. 5 and No. 7. McCrery, who hails from Wilmington, Delaware, got up-and-down on No. 10, 12 and 13, but dropped four shots on the next two holes. She regrouped on the 385-yard, par-4 No. 17 as she hit a great approach out of the rough to 10 feet for birdie on No. 17 to finish with a 76.
Anna Cañado Espinal featured one of Duke's best starts of the day. After suffering a bogey on No. 1, Cañado Espinal drained a 37-foot birdie on No. 2 and then hit her 7-iron from 165 yards on No. 5 to 12 feet for birdie to move to 1-under-par. The Barcelona, Spain sophomore struggled over the next eight holes dropping seven shots, before closing the day with five pars in a row to finish with a 78.
Stanford (843) leads the field with Southern California (848), Oklahoma State (854), Texas (858), Iowa State (858), Arkansas (861), Florida (866), Arizona State (866), Duke (866), Eastern Michigan (870), Pepperdine (872), Missouri (872), SMU (874), North Carolina (874) and Northwestern (876) advanced to the final round Monday.

NOTES

Rianne Malixi totaled a 4-under, 68, in the second round, which is tied for the fifth-lowest 18-hole score for Duke in the NCAA Championship on a par-72 course. Her 68 is tied for the second-lowest round by a Blue Devil freshman on a par-72 course at the NCAAs. The 68 is just the 15th overall round of 68 or better shot by a Duke golfer at the NCAA Championship by a Duke golfer.
Malixi's 54-hole total of 210 is the fourth-lowest for a Duke golfer in the NCAAs on a par-72 course. It is the second-lowest 54-hole total by a Blue Devil freshman at the NCAA Championship on a par-72 course.
Malixi joins only Virginia Elena Carta (2016), Virada Nirapathpongporn (2002) and Candy Hannemann (2001) as Duke golfers to post back-to-back rounds in the 60s at the NCAA Championship. All three of those golfers were NCAA Individual Champions.
Malixi now owns 17 rounds of even or under par and nine rounds in the 60s. She ranks tied for sixth on Duke's freshman record charts in even or under par rounds and second in rounds in the 60s. She is one round in the 60s shy of matching Leona Maguire's mark of 10.
If Malixi shoots in the 60s Monday in the final round, she will become just the fourth Blue Devil, and it would mark only the fifth time a Duke golfer has turned in 10 or more rounds in the 60s in a season – Amanda Blumenherst (13), Leona Maguire (10 twice) and Lindy Duncan (10). Malixi would be the first since Maguire accomplished it in 2017-18.
Malixi's 115 birdies on the season are tied for the fifth-most by a Blue Devil. She is six shy of the Duke record of 121 held by Leona Maguire.
Malixi enters the final round with a streak of 26 straight holes without a bogey. It is her second-longest streak this season (45).
Duke is tied for the lead with 50 birdies over the first 54 holes.
Andie Smith is now tied for eighth on Duke's all-time charts with 52 rounds of even or under par with her even-par, 72, Sunday.
Smith has notched 11 birdies over the last three days to move into sixth on Duke's all-time birdies list with 344. She is seven away from fourth.
Duke finished with 15 birdies as a team in the third round.
Farah O'Keefe of Texas and Catherine Park of Southern California lead the individual action with a 10-under, 206.

QUOTES

"We had another solid day. Golf seemed a bit harder today, but they all kept rebounding. Looking forward to getting after it again tomorrow." -- Duke head coach Dan Brooks
"I think a big part of it was just staying patient, making sure that I got the recovery that I needed last night. So, getting enough sleep and getting myself nutrients in the morning. Then just going out, playing golf and sticking to my game plan. Not really straying from that and just let the shots fall where they needed to, and it was just very steady throughout the whole day." -- Duke graduate student Andie Smith
"We're really looking forward to what we have in store. I think we have so much left to give and we still have one more day of stroke play and match play rounds. So, we're just going to give each other the support that we need and the recovery time that we need and just keep going." -- Duke graduate student Andie Smith on the team position heading into Monday
"I'd say course management was really great today as well. I was really patient. I hit a lot of really good iron shots, and most of them were within 20 feet. I was really patient with my putting since I left a lot out there. Then I tried to capitalize on green reading, since that's where I was struggling with today."-- Duke freshman Rianne Malixi
"It was playing really soft. The weather was a bit gloomy today, then we had a bit of a drizzle. So, the greens were kind of running slow and the fairways were really soft. But I took advantage since it wasn't as bouncy. Then I just attacked the pins and left myself with some short putts." -- Duke freshman Rianne Malixi on how the course played Sunday

WHAT IS NEXT

Duke will tee off in the final round Monday, May 25 beginning at 11:51 a.m. (PT) and 2:51 p.m. (ET), off hole No. 10 along with Arizona State and Florida. Live scoring is available here and fans can also watch live here. The Golf Channel will air coverage from 5:30-9:30 p.m. (ET) as well.

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                                 73-69-68=210 (T8, -6)
Andie Smith                                    74-70-72=216 (T28, E)
Katie Li                                            73-73-73=219 (T51, +3)
Avery McCrery                               71-74-76=221 (T72, +5)
Anna Cañado Espinal                   78-75-78=231 (T140, +15)
Team                                               291-286-289=866 (T7, +2)