Paula Reto shook off the effects of two late bogeys on Sunday to climb into a share of 35th in the LPGA Tour’s Ford Championship presented by KCC at Seville Golf and Country Club in Phoenix, Arizona.
Reto had made three birdies on her front nine to climb to 12-under for the tournament on a tightly packed leaderboard, but she dropped consecutive shots on the 12th and 13th. She gathered herself and birdied the 14th and finished her round on two-under-par 70. At 11-under for the tournament, she was nine shots behind the winner.
Nelly Korda of the United States became the first player since 2016 to win in three consecutive starts on the tour as she closed with a seven-under-par 65 to reach 20-under and a two-stroke edge over rookie Hira Naveed of Australia. Five players shared fifth on 17-under, five were on 16-under, eight were on 15-under and five were on 14-under.
In a 10-way share of 35th with Reto was fellow South African Ashleigh Buhai, who closed with a one-under-par 71.
“I think it was definitely one of my least stressful wins today. I played really solid golf,” said Korda, whose 65 is her lowest final-round score since she carded a 64 on Sunday at the 2021 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. “I didn’t make too many mistakes, and if I did, I just had a straightforward chip. Overall, I capitalised on the majority of my really good shots out there today and made some good putts as well. I’m very, very pleased with how I played today in the tough conditions.”
