Co-medalists lose in Round of 64

(Editor’s note: Follow our live updates here from the U.S. Women’s Amateur.)

BANDON, Ore. — Arianna Lau didn’t know how close Rianne Malixi hit her approach shot on the par-5 18th hole, she just knew it was close.

Roughly 10 feet, to be exact, is how close the defending U.S. Women’s Amateur champion hit her 3 wood for an eagle look. Lau knew she had to respond, and she did.

Hitting 3 wood herself, Lau smoked her shot to the front left part of the green and watched it roll to about 13 feet from the pin, just outside Malixi’s ball. Then, the 64 seed, who advanced to earn the final spot in match play after a 3-hour, 3-minute playoff Wednesday morning, buried the putt, and Malixi couldn’t match.

Lau knocked out the defending champion 1 up on Wednesday afternoon under a blanket of clouds at Bandon Dunes on the Oregon coast. She had a 1-up lead on the 17th hole and missed a 3 footer for par for Malixi to tie the match, but she stepped up and hit one of the best shots of her life to knock out the top seed and defending champion on the 18th hole.

“She hit a really good shot, and I just tried to match it,” Lau said.

She birdied the same hole in regulation on Wednesday morning to earn the final spot in match play. Her reward? The defending champion and co-medalist in Malixi.

Lau got off to a quick start, too, leading 3 up after five holes, but Malixi tied the match by the turn. Then on the back, the duo went back and forth with Lau taking a 1-up lead three separate times before Malixi would tie the match.

Then on the 18th tee, they matched beautiful approach shots back toward the clubhouse. However, Lau made the putt and added pressure to Malixi, who missed her eagle attempt, and her effort at the U.S. Women’s Amateur was done.

“I’m just really grateful, especially today. Like it taught me how to handle pressure, especially in match play,” Lau said.

“Yeah, I just like really happy to like even make it to round of 64, and to play pretty good golf today, yeah, it was a very — that’s very good.”

She admitted she was nervous overnight before the early-morning playoff, but 24 holes later, she’s in the Round of 32 come Thursday morning.

Malixi wasn’t the only co-medalist to fall Thursday. Asterisk Talley, who lost to Malixi in the championship match last year at Southern Hills, is also heading home.

The No. 2 seed fell to Australia’s Ella Scaysbrook 6 and 4, ending an insane run that started last week with her victory at the Junior PGA Championship in Indiana. Scaysbrook was 2 up after three holes and held that lead until the 11th, where she won four straight holes to knock off one of the best juniors in the world.

Scaysbrook, who is playing in her first USGA event, said she took the underdog mentality in her match, understanding how talented her opponent was. She proved she’s worthy of her flowers, too.

“Proud of myself, yeah,” she said. “It’s pretty big. Yeah, it was very good. Good match.”

Both co-medalists have lost in the Round of 64 for the first time in 10 years. Meanwhile, world No. 1 Kiara Romero took her opening match, 4 and 3. The top seed left, Eila Galitsky, a rising sophomore at South Carolina, won her match, 4 and 3.