Paula Reto (born 3 May 1990) is a South African professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour.[1]

Paula Reto
Reto in 2017
Personal information
Born (1990-05-03) 3 May 1990 (age 34)
Cape Town, South Africa
Height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Sporting nationality South Africa
Career
CollegePurdue University
Turned professional2013
Current tour(s)LPGA Tour (2014–)
Professional wins2
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour1
Other1
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron ChampionshipT18: 2016
Women's PGA C'shipT30: 2022
U.S. Women's OpenCUT: 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023
Women's British OpenT24: 2021
Evian ChampionshipT12: 2024
Achievements and awards
Big Ten Conference Mary Fossum Award2013

Amateur career

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Reto played field hockey and ran track in her youth and did not start playing golf until 2005. She played with the Purdue Boilermakers women's golf team between 2009 and 2012, and was a member of the 2010 NCAA National Championship team.[2] She was a three-time First-Team All-Big Ten Conference selection (2011-2013), and a First-Team All-American in 2013. She earned an individual third-place finish at the 2013 NCAA Championships and was named the 2013 Mary Fossum Award winner for low stroke average in the Big Ten Conference.[1]

Reto won the Dixie Amateur back to back in 2011 and 2012. In 2012 she reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship, eliminated by eventual champion and the world's top-ranked amateur, Lydia Ko.[2]

Professional career

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Reto qualified for the LPGA Tour through Q-School on her first attempt in 2013 and turned professional. She tied for 13th place to earn full status for the 2014 season. She finished 77th on the 2014 official LPGA money list and was seventh in the Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year race. Reto recorded a solo third at the 2014 Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic. She had a three-shot lead in Prattville, Alabama after 36 holes[3] and shared the lead after 54 holes.[4]

In 2019 she was runner-up at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship, two strokes behind Ssu-Chia Cheng.

Reto finished tied 16th at the 2016 Summer Olympics and qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics, but was forced to withdraw due to the COVID-19 protocol.[5]

She won her first LPGA Tour tournament at the Canadian Women's Open on 28 August 2022, scoring 62-69-67-67=265 (−19), for a one-stroke win over Nelly Korda and Choi Hye-jin. Her initial round 62 was a tournament record.

Amateur wins

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  • 2011 Dixie Amateur Championship
  • 2012 Dixie Amateur Championship

Professional wins (2)

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LPGA Tour wins (1)

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Legend
Major championships (0)
Other LPGA Tour (1)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runner-up Winner's
share ($)
1 Aug 28, 2022 Canadian Women's Open 62-69-67-67=265 −19 1 stroke   Nelly Korda
  Choi Hye-jin
352,500

Sunshine Ladies Tour wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 21 Feb 2022 SuperSport Ladies Challenge −13 (67-65-71=213) 10 strokes   Casandra Alexander

Results in LPGA majors

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Results not in chronological order.

! Tournament 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Chevron Championship T26 T18 T63 T25 CUT T54
U.S. Women's Open CUT CUT CUT CUT
Women's PGA Championship T48 CUT WD CUT CUT 70 T30 CUT T60
The Evian Championship CUT T48 NT WD CUT 68 T12
Women's British Open CUT CUT T24 T58 CUT T29
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
T = tied

LPGA Tour career summary

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Year Tournaments
played
Cuts
made*
Wins 2nds 3rds Top 10s Best
finish
Earnings
($)
Money
list rank
Scoring
average
Scoring
rank
2014 20 9 0 0 1 2 3 154,880 77 72.79 108
2015 22 8 0 0 0 0 T13 102,187 88 73.31 118
2016 27 19 0 0 0 2 T9 224,371 74 71.73 58
2017 23 6 0 0 0 0 T15 55,267 131 72.86 143
2018 20 5 0 0 0 0 T21 29,669 143 74.04 157
2019 5 0 0 0 0 0 MC 0 n/a 73.75 n/a
2020 3 2 0 0 0 0 T28 15,036 138 71.89 n/a
2021 18 13 0 0 0 1 T7 225,811 76 71.05 53
2022 27 19 1 0 1 4 1 808,130 34 71.12 56
2023 27 13 0 0 0 2 T6 179,827 103 72.97 142
2024 28 21 0 0 0 0 T12 516,094 74 71.72 76
Totals^ 220 115 1 0 2 11 1 2,311,272 190

^ As of 2024 season[6][7][8]
* Includes matchplay and other tournaments without a cut.

World ranking

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Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.

Year Ranking Source
2013 551 [9]
2014 221 [10]
2015 204 [11]
2016 137 [12]
2017 303 [13]
2018 574 [14]
2019 677 [15]
2020 564 [16]
2021 214 [17]
2022 58 [18]
2023 153 [19]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Paula Reto Bio". LPGA. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Women's Golf Roster: Paula Reto". Purdue University. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  3. ^ "SA rookie Reto leads Yokohama Tire event". enca. enca. 20 September 2014.
  4. ^ "Mi Jung Hur, Paula Reto share lead". ESPN. Associated Press. 20 September 2014.
  5. ^ "Paula Reto was knocked out of the Olympics by an apparent false positive COVID test". Golf Digest. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Paula Reto Stats". LPGA. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  7. ^ "Paula Reto results". LPGA. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  8. ^ "Career Money". LPGA. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  9. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 30 December 2013.
  10. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 29 December 2014.
  11. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 28 December 2015.
  12. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 26 December 2016.
  13. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 25 December 2017.
  14. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 31 December 2018.
  15. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 30 December 2019.
  16. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 28 December 2020.
  17. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 27 December 2021.
  18. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 26 December 2022.
  19. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 25 December 2023.
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