Paula Reto rounded off a good tournament on the LPGA Tour on Sunday when she carded a closing level-par 71 in the Volunteers of America Classic in a share of 14^th on eight-under-par.

Her four birdies and four bogeys put her eight shots behind the winner, the recently dethroned world number one, Jin Young Ko of Korea. Ko closed with a 69 to finish one stroke clear of Finland’s Matilda Castren, while Mexico’s Gaby Lopez finished fast with a 65 to take third on 14-under, a further shot back.

The performance saw Reto climb 20 spots on the LPGA Tour’s Race to the CME Globe to 109^th.

Significantly, she also climbed 15 spots on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings to 420^th. She remains South Africa’s third-best woman professional behind Ashleigh Buhai, who was unchanged on 76^th, and Lee-Anne Pace, who dropped two places to 209^th after her 13^th-place finish in the Ladies European Tour’s Big Green Egg Open in the Netherlands.

Nicole Garcia was the other player who gained significant ground in the rankings, climbing 26 places to 623^rd. That means she supplants Monique Smit as South Africa’s number five woman professional.

South Africa’s top 10:

1. Ashleigh Buhai 76 (unchanged)
2. Lee-Anne Pace 209 (down 2)
3. Paula Reto 420 (up 15)
4. Lejan Lewthwaite 608 (down 3)
5. Nicole Garcia 623 (up 26)
6. Monque Smit 628 (down 5)
7. Stacy Bregman 693 (down 11)
8. Casandra Hall 790 (unchanged)
9. Caitlyn Macnab 945 (down 3)
10. Tandi McCallum 1080 (down 2)