A superb closing stretch of five holes on Sunday saw Paula Reto to a closing one-under-par 71 and a share of 25th in the LPGA Tour’s CPKC Canadian Women’s Open in Calgary, Alberta.
After a poor opening nine during which she made three bogeys without picking up a shot, she reached the 14th tee on three-over and on the slide down the leaderboard at two-over for the tournament. But she eagled the 14th to spark a run for home that included three birdies and a bogey on the 16th as she dragged herself to two-under-par for the 72 holes.
That put her 11 shots behind the winner, Lauren Coughlin of the United States, who closed with a level-par 71 to reach 13-under and beat Japan’s Mao Saigo by two shots. The Korean duo of Jenny Shin and Haeran Ryu shared third on 10-under-par.
Coughlin’s husband John Pond was the first to spray her with champagne on Sunday after the 31-year-old claimed the title at Earl Grey Golf Club. Starting the day just one shot back of 54-hole leader Ryu, Coughlin battled the entire way through the final round, knowing that if she could just hang around and stay patient, something good would come.
A much-needed birdie late on the par-three 17th gave Coughlin a two-shot lead coming to the final hole of the CPKC Women’s Open, and she only needed a par to finally enter the LPGA Tour winner’s circle, a victory she immediately got to celebrate with John on the 18th green.
