Only a double-bogey six on the eighth hole on Saturday prevented Paula Reto from finishing better than her share of 30th after the final round of the LPGA Tour’s Lotte Championship at Hoakalei Country Club in Hawaii.
She had made three birdies up to that point in a stirring climb up the leaderboard, but the double-drop slowed her progress. She was quickly up and running again with a birdie on nine, and she made two more on the back nine as she carded a closing 68.
She finished the week on four-under-par, which was 14 strokes behind the dominant victory by Korean A Lim Kim. She closed with a four-under 68 to hold off Russian Nataliya Guseva by two strokes, with Auston Kim of the United States in third on 15-under.
Reto’s fellow-South African Ashleigh Buhai battled in the final round after her fine third-round 67. She was 10 shots worse in the final round, and her 77 left her on three-under for the tournament in a share of 35th.
