Malixi, Cañado Espinal Go Undefeated; Blue Devils Fall in Championship Match to Top-Seeded Auburn

Sunday, March 15

Aiken, S.C.

Duke University

The Old Barnwell Derby Match Play

Photo by: Todd Drexler

Malixi, Cañado Espinal Go Undefeated; Blue Devils Fall in Championship Match to Top-Seeded Auburn

3/17/2026 5:13:00 PM | Women's Golf

Scoring

AIKEN, S.C. – After rolling to wins in the first two rounds of the Old Barnwell Derby Match Play, the third-seeded Duke women's golf program faced a battle Tuesday in the championship match against top-seeded Auburn. At the end, the Tigers registered a tight, 3-2, victory to claim the title over the Blue Devils at Old Barnwell in Aiken.

For the tournament, both Rianne Malixi and Anna Cañado Espinal each finished with three match play wins. Malixi, who hails from Manila, Philippines, shot a combined 15-under-par over three matches, while Cañado Espinal shot 8-under-par.

Duke opened the event by totaling a 4-0 victory over sixth-seeded Florida State and then notched a 3-0 win over second-seeded Wake Forest to advance to the championship match.

HOW IT HAPPENED – Auburn 3, Duke 2 - Championship

Auburn jumped out to a hot start putting the first two points on the board Tuesday as Charlotte Cantonis knocked off Katie Li, 6&5, and Carys Worby totaled a 3&1 win over Carla De Troia.
The Blue Devils made a comeback though as Anna Cañado Espinal came-from-behind to defeat Katie Cranston, 2UP, to cut the Auburn lead to 2-1. Cañado Espinal trailed by as many as 2UP through six holes, but won holes No. 7 and No. 8 to get the match tied. Cranston went ahead with a par on No. 11, but Cañado Espinal parred No. 12 to return to all square. Cañado Espinal registered an eagle on the par-5 No. 15 to take a 1UP lead and never relinquished the advantage for the win. She finished the day shooting 2-under-par.
In a featured matchup of two of the top-15 ranked amateur golfers in the world, Duke's Rianne Malixi faced Anna Davis. Malixi birdied the first two holes and led 1UP early, but the match was tied after the fourth hole. Davis went ahead with a birdie on No. 9 and led by as many as 2UP through 11. Malixi started making a comeback as she birdied No. 12 and No. 15 to get the match back to tied. Malixi birdied No. 16 to go 1UP, both golfers parred No. 17 and the duo birdied No. 18 to give Malixi the 1UP win. Malixi closed strong shooting 5-under-par over her final seven holes for the win.
The match came down to Duke's Andie Smith versus Molly Brown Davidson. Both golfers birdied the first hole and then Davidson took her first lead on No. 4. She held as big as a 3UP lead through 11 holes, but Smith battled back with a birdie on No. 12 and par on No. 13 to cut the advantage to 1UP with five holes remaining. Both golfers birdied No. 14 and Davidson eagled No. 15 to go 2UP, before closing with a 2&1 victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED – Duke 3, Wake Forest 0 - Semifinals

Anna Cañado Espinal kicked off the match against Morgan Ketchum and birdied the first hole to go 1UP early. Ketchum totaled birdies on No. 4, No. 6 and No. 9 to take a 1UP lead. Cañado Espinal birdied No. 12 to even the match, but another birdie by Ketchum gave her a 1UP lead again. With back-to-back birdies on No. 15 and No. 16, Cañado Espinal regained a 1UP lead and both golfers parred the final two holes to give the Blue Devil a 1UP victory.
Carla De Troia had another impressive match as she never trailed against Anne-Sterre Den Dunnen going on to win 4&2. De Troia birdied the opening hole and notched another birdie on No. 4 to take a 2UP lead. The match went to 4UP in favor of De Troia after a birdie on No. 12 and closed the match with the win after her fifth birdie of the day on No. 16. She shot 4-under through 16 holes.
In the final match of the afternoon, Rianne Malixi was dominant against Wake Forest's Macy Pate. Malixi birdied the first three holes to go 3UP early and never looked back. She logged seven birdies over her first 12 holes to win in impressive fashion, 7&6. Malixi shot 7-under-par through 12 holes.
Katie Li birdied the first three holes against Chloe Kovelesky, but only led 1UP as both golfers opened the match on fire. The two parred the next six holes, before Li birdied No. 9 to go ahead, 2UP. Li suffered bogeys on No. 11 and No. 13 to tie the match, but Li totaled her sixth birdie of the day on No. 15 to go 1UP just before the match was clinched for Duke.
Andie Smith was impressive again in match play versus Chutimon Rujiranan. After draining a 15-foot birdie on No. 3 and parring No. 4, Smith led 2UP early. Smith rolled in a key 20-foot par putt on No. 7 to halve the hole, birdied No. 8 and had a tap-in birdie on No. 9 to hold a 3UP lead heading to the back nine. Smith moved the ledger to 4UP with a par on No. 10. Rujiranan tried to make a comeback with birdies on No. 12, No. 15 and No. 16, but Smith led 2UP with two holes remaining when the match was clinched for the Blue Devils.

HOW IT HAPPENED – Duke vs. Florida State - Quarterfinals

On Sunday morning the Blue Devils opened action against sixth-seeded Florida State and had an impressive start. The matches started on hole No. 10.
Duke jumped out to early leads in four of the five matches.
Anna Cañado Espinal faced Alexandra Gazzoli in the first match out and Cañado Espinal birdied the first hole to take a 1UP lead. After a bogey on No. 13 by Cañado Espinal, the match returned to all square. With wins on No. 15 and No. 16, Cañado Espinal took a 2UP lead, but Gazzoli won the next two holes to make the turn tied. Gazzoli took her first lead of the match with a birdie on No. 3, but Cañado Espinal came back to win holes five and six to regain a 1UP lead. The match returned to tied after the seventh hole, but Cañado Espinal rolled a birdie on No. 9 to win the match, 1UP.
In the second match, Carla De Troia never trailed against Sophia Fullbrook. De Troia won holes No. 10, No. 12 and No. 13 to build a 3UP lead. With a birdie on No. 2, De Troia held a 4UP advantage and closed the match with a par on No. 6 to win 4&3. De Troia shot 2-under-par over the 15 holes.
Rianne Malixi won the first two holes against Haruhi Nakatani to take a 2UP advantage and never relinquished the lead all match. After making the turn with a 2UP lead, Malixi birdied No. 1 and No. 4 to go 4UP and closed the match with a par on No. 6 to win 5&3. She shot 3-under-par for the day.
Katie Li had a great start by winning the first two holes to go ahead, 2UP, but Freya Russell rolled in three birdies in a row to even the match through five holes. Li collected a birdie on No. 16 to regain a 1UP lead and made it 2UP with another birdie on No. 1. Russell cut into the Duke lead with a par on No. 4, but bogeyed No. 6 to return the match to 2UP in favor of Li. With another birdie on No. 7, Li held a 1UP lead with two holes remaining, but both golfers parred the final two holes to give Li a 1UP victory.
In the final match, Andie Smith faced Elin Pudas Remier. Remier won the first two holes to take a 2UP lead, but Smith responded by 2-putting for birdie on No. 12 and then evening the ledger with a par on No. 13. Smith tapped in for birdie on No. 14 to register her first lead of the match and parred No. 15 to go 2UP. After Remier birdied No. 16 and No. 17, Smith hit her 50-degree wedge from 112 yards to three feet for birdie to take a 1UP lead into the next nine holes. Remier birdied No. 1 and then Smith responded again with a birdie as she rolled in a 15-footer on No. 2 to take a 1UP lead. Smith was leading, 1UP, through 16 holes when the match was clinched for the Blue Devils.

NOTES

In her first match play action as a Blue Devil, Rianne Malixi was impressive going 3-0.
After dropping all six matches a year ago, Duke sophomores Anna Cañado Espinal and Carla De Troia were 5-1 in six matches in 2026.

WHAT IS NEXT

Duke will close the regular season March 23-24 at the Charles Schwab Women's Collegiate Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas.

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

#GoDuke

Auburn 3, Duke 2 (Championship)
Carys Worby (Auburn) def. Carla De Troia (Duke) 3&1
Anna Cañado Espinal (Duke) def. Katie Cranston (Auburn) 3&1
Charlotte Cantonis (Auburn) def. Katie Li (Duke) 6&5
Rianne Malixi (Duke) def. Anna Davis (Auburn) 1UP
Molly Brown Davidson (Auburn) def. Andie Smith (Duke) 2&1

Duke 3, Wake Forest 0 (Semifinals)
Anna Cañado Espinal (Duke) def. Morgan Ketchum (WFU) 1UP
Carla De Troia (Duke) def. Anne-Sterre Den Dunnen (WFU) 4&2
Andie Smith (Duke) vs. Chutimon Rujiranan (WFU) abandoned
Katie Li (Duke) vs. Chloe Kovelesky (WFU) abandoned
Rianne Malixi (Duke) def. Macy Pate (WFU) 7&6

Duke 4, Florida State 0 (Quarterfinals)
Anna Cañado Espinal (Duke) def.Alexandra Gazzoli (FSU) 1UP
Carla De Troia (Duke) def. Sophia Fullbrook (FSU) 4&3
Rianne Malixi (Duke) def. Haruhi Nakatani (FSU) 5&3
Katie Li (Duke) def. Freya Russell (FSU) 1UP
Andie Smith (Duke) vs. Elin Pudas Remier (FSU) abandoned