Paula Reto (born 3 May 1990) is a South African

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who plays on the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly ...

Amateur career

Reto played field hockey and ran track in her youth and did not start playing golf until 2005. She played with the Purdue Boilermakers women's golf team between 2009 and 2012, and was a member of the 2010 NCAA National Championship team. She was a three-time First-Team All-Big Ten Conference selection (2011-2013), and a First-Team All-American in 2013. She earned an individual third-place finish at the 2013

NCAA Championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and 1 in Canada. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and helps ...

and was named the 2013 Mary Fossum Award winner for low stroke average in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. Reto won the Dixie Amateur back to back in 2011 and 2012. In 2012 she reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship, eliminated by eventual champion and the world's top-ranked amateur,

Lydia Ko Dame Lydia Ko (born 24 April 1997) is a New Zealand professional golfer, member of the LPGA Hall of Fame, and the reigning Olympic champion. She first reached number one in the Women's World Golf Rankings on 2 February 2015 at of age, makin ...

Professional career

Reto qualified for the LPGA Tour through Q-School on her first attempt in 2013 and turned professional. She tied for 13th place to earn full status for the 2014 season. She finished 77th on the 2014 official LPGA money list and was seventh in the Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year race. Reto recorded a solo third at the 2014 Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic. She had a three-shot lead in Prattville, Alabama after 36 holes and shared the lead after 54 holes. In 2019 she was runner-up at the

FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship The FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship is a tournament on the Epson Tour, the LPGA's developmental tour. It has been a part of the tour's schedule since 2014. It is held at Battle Creek Golf Club in Battle Creek, Michigan, designed by Scotti ...

, two strokes behind

Ssu-Chia Cheng Ssu-Chia Cheng ( zh, c=程思嘉; born 27 October 1997) is a Taiwanese professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. Early life and amateur career Cheng started playing golf at the age of 8 and as an amateur won four events on the Taiwan LPGA ...

. Reto finished tied 16th at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

and qualified for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, but was forced to withdraw due to the COVID-19 protocol. She won her first LPGA Tour tournament at the

Canadian Women's Open The Canadian Women's Open (), currently branded as the CPKC Women's Open for sponsorship reasons, is a women's professional golf tournament managed by Golf Canada. It has been Canada's national championship tournament since its founding in 197 ...

on 28 August 2022, scoring 62-69-67-67=265 (−19), for a one-stroke win over

Nelly Korda Nelly Korda (born July 28, 1998) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour, where she has won 15 times and reached number one in the Women's World Golf Rankings. Korda won the Olympic gold medal at the women's individual g ...

and

Choi Hye-jin Choi Hye-jin (; born 23 August 1999) is a South Korean professional golfer. Amateur career Choi represented South Korea at the 2014 Asian Games where she helped the team to a silver medal and finished fifth in the individual event. She help ...

. Her initial round 62 was a tournament record.

Amateur wins

*2011 Dixie Amateur Championship *2012 Dixie Amateur Championship

Professional wins (2)

LPGA Tour wins (1)

Sunshine Ladies Tour wins (1)

Results in LPGA majors

''Results not in chronological order.'' CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
T = tied

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (2024 Chevron – 2025 Evian, current) *Longest streak of top-10s – 0

LPGA Tour career summary

^ As of 2024 season
* Includes matchplay and other tournaments without a cut.

World ranking

Position in

Women's World Golf Rankings The Women's World Golf Rankings, also known for sponsorship reasons as the Rolex Rankings, were introduced in February 2006. They are sanctioned by 12 women's golf tours and the organisations behind them: Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPG ...

at the end of each calendar year.

References

External links

* *
Profile at Purdue University Athletics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reto, Paula South African female golfers Purdue Boilermakers women's golfers LPGA Tour golfers Olympic golfers for South Africa Golfers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Golfers at the 2024 Summer Olympics South African expatriate golfers in the United States Golfers from Cape Town White South African people 1990 births Living people 21st-century South African sportswomen