Paula Reto carded her second successive one-under-par 71 on Friday to reach two-under for the tournament and make the cut in a share of 29th in the first major championship of the year, the Chevron Championship.
The tournament, affectionately known as ‘the Dinah Shore’ in deference to its founder, the singer Dinah Shore, is being played for the last time at its spiritual home at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California.
Reto’s round was a brave one, featuring six birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey, and she is seven shots behind the leader Hinako Shibuno of Japan, who carded a six-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead over Annie Park and Jennifer Kupcho of the United States and Patty Tavatanikit of Thailand.
Reto shares 29th with 18 other players in an extremely congested part of the leaderboard. Just ahead of her on three-under for the tournament are a further nine players in a share of 20th and seven players share ninth place on five-under.
The South African, who won twice in her homeland in a visit earlier this year, will be looking to beef up her accuracy under pressure over the weekend as she hit just 12 of 18 greens in regulation in her second round.
The other South African in the field was Ashleigh Buhai who missed the cut after adding a seven-over 79 to her opening one-over-par 73.
