Paula Reto got off to a stellar start and had to hang on to her lead, but she did just enough.
The 32-year-old South African shot a 5-under 31 on the front 9 of Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club to vault into a lead at the 2022 CP Women’s Open in Ottawa, Canada, and she held off a furious back-nine rally from Nelly Korda, Hye-Jin Choi and Lydia Ko, earning Reto her first LPGA victory. She finished at 4-under 67 for the day and 19 under for the tournament, beating Korda and Choi by one shot and Ko by two.
Ko shot 8 under in the final round, coming home in 6-under 29, including birdies on five of her final six holes and the last four straight.
Reto didn’t make any birdies on the back nine and had one bogey, but par golf otherwise was enough to secure the victory. It’s the first time there have been three consecutive first-time winners on the LPGA since 2008.
“I’m really, really excited and just proud of myself for being able to stick through the shots and the routines,” Reto said. “Sometimes I find that’s really hard to do, especially if you know you have only a few holes left. But I was really nervous, especially I started pulling a few shots and I told myself, ‘OK, just stay in the moment and breathe.'”
That first LPGA Tour trophy feeling 🏆#CPWO | @paularetoSA pic.twitter.com/jjh0xrFj9B
— LPGA (@LPGA) August 28, 2022
Choi played solidly, carding a 2-under 69, but the 54-hole leader couldn’t manage more than two birdies on her day. Korda, meanwhile, shot 4 under in the final round, but she was 4 under on the back nine with three birdies and an eagle on the par-4 12th.
Narin An was tied for the 54-hole lead with Choi, but An was 1 over on Sunday.
Reto moved to 28th in the Race to the CME Globe points list and earned $352,500 for the win.
Hometown favorite Brooke Henderson, who won the Amundi Evian Championship last month for her second major, shot 2 under on Sunday to finish at 5 under and T-49 for the tournament. Defending champion Jin Young Ko, who won in 2019 when the CP Women’s Open was last held, didn’t play the weekend after missing the cut.
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