CP Women’s Open

Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | Aug. 25-28, 2022

Fourth-Round Notes

Aug. 28, 2022

Course Setup: 36-35—71, 6,342 yards (Scoring Averages: R1, 70.31; R2, 70.63; R3, 70.19; R4, 69.99)

Weather: Mostly sunny, with highs in the low 80s

PAULA RETO WINS 2022 CP WOMEN’S OPEN

In her 157th start on the LPGA Tour, Paula Reto finally became a champion. The 32-year-old from South Africa, who now makes her home in southern Florida, knocked in a two-putt par on No. 18 at Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club to capture the 2022 CP Women’s Open. Reto, a nine-year LPGA Tour veteran, finished at -19 overall, one stroke ahead of Nelly Korda and Hye-Jin Choi and two strokes clear of Lydia Ko.

“I’m really, really excited and just proud of myself for being able to stick through the shots and the routines. Sometimes I find that’s really hard to do, especially if you know you have only a few holes left,” said Reto. “But I was really nervous, especially I started pulling a few shots and I told myself, okay, just stay in the moment and breathe. You go through all those things that you think will help.”

With the win, Reto became the season’s second winner from South Africa, joining Ashleigh Buhai (AIG Women’s Open), and is the fourth LPGA Tour winner from South Africa overall, joining Sally Little (15 wins), Buhai (one win) and Lee-Anne Pace (one win). Reto is the eighth Rolex First-Time Winner of the 2022 LPGA Tour season and the fourth consecutive first-time winner; the last time the LPGA Tour had four consecutive first-time winners was 2005.

Reto’s Canadian success started on Thursday, when she shot a personal-best 9-under 62 to set the course and tournament scoring record, as well as tie the low round of the LPGA Tour season. She stayed in contention all week and started the final day one stroke off the lead. Her morning was pure adrenaline, with Reto making the turn carrying a four-stroke lead on the strength of five front-nine birdies.

But on the back nine, she admitted that the nerves came out and the birdies stopped flowing. “I started putting on the brakes, and that’s probably not what you want to do,” Reto said. “I haven’t really much been in this position, and I was just trying to control myself and be in the moment.”

Reto bogeyed the par-4-14th to drop to -19, with former Rolex Rankings No. 1 Korda surging in the group ahead of her. Korda holed out for eagle at No. 12 to start her rally and pulled within a stroke of Reto with back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16. She lipped out a prime chance for a tying birdie at No. 17 and after finding the greenside bunker on her approach to No. 18, Korda’s two-putt for par gave Reto the room she needed to take her first title.

“Still need to tighten up some loose ends I feel like, maybe improve on a couple different areas, but that’s golf. That’s what I love about it,” said Korda. “I feel like you can constantly improve. Every girl out here is improving. Paula played amazing this week and she went from, I don’t know if she even had her card last year to being a champion. So anyone can win, and that’s what’s great about golf. Anyone that tees it up has a chance to win, because all the girls and all the guys are so good.”

Choi started the day in a tie for the lead but could not get any momentum until late, opening with 14 straight pars before birdieing two of the last four holes. Ko tied the day’s low round with a bogey-free 63, but was too far behind at the start of the day to truly put any pressure on Reto.

Canadian Brooke Henderson, who entered the tournament with the weight of expectations on her shoulders, shot a 2-under 69 on Sunday and finished at -5 overall tied for 49th. Despite the lackluster week, Henderson delighted the massive galleries that gathered at Ottawa Hunt, cheering wildly for her every shot.

“I didn’t have my best stuff this week, but they didn’t care and they were there with me every single shot,” said Henderson, who grew up less than an hour outside Ottawa and holds an honorary membership at Ottawa Hunt. “I’m going to sign a bunch of autographs and take some pictures now because I love them so much and I just can’t believe they’re out here in full force.”

FORMER WORLD NO. 1s MAKE A CHARGE IN FINAL ROUND OF CP WOMEN’S OPEN

Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko made valiant charges for the CP Women’s Open trophy during Sunday’s final round at Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club. Ko, who last held the Rolex Rankings World No. 1 title in 2016, shot an outstanding 8-under 63 to jump six spots up the leaderboard and finish in solo fourth. The Kiwi made more birdies than anyone else in the field, carding 10 on the final day and 24 overall. She closed out her final round with four birdies in a row to put herself just two shots out of the lead.

“I played the par-3s really well. Birdied all of them, and there are five out here, so to make five twos was definitely helpful for the scorecard,” Ko said. “I think it was a lot of things were clicking (on the back nine). Hit it close on 10 and… then I holed a really good birdie on 13. Those holes coming in I chipped in (on 16), hit it close (on 17), and then obviously hit two good shots to be on the green in two on the last (18). When I was out of position, I was able to get a good drop or get lucky and still manage to have a birdie putt. Yeah, it was that kind of back nine.”

Korda also had an impressive back nine after staying Even through the turn. The highlight of the day came on No. 12 when she holed out for an eagle from the fairway. But an unlucky lip-out for birdie on 13, and three bogeys throughout the round, kept the major champion from ever gaining or tying the lead.

“I had a lot of chances out there. I had one shot after the eagle that completely 360ed on me, but that’s golf,” she laughed. “You hole out and then you get a really nasty lip-out and it makes you really humble out there.”

Korda’s T2 finish is her second of the year – she earned her first at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give after losing in a playoff to Jennifer Kupcho – and is projected to move to second in the Rolex Rankings, overtaking Minjee Lee. Though leaving without a win is disappointing for the seven-time LPGA Tour champion, she is grateful for every chance she gets to play after a blood clot in her left arm took her out of the game earlier this season.

“I’m just grateful that I am playing golf and I’m out here, and I’m enjoying every second of it,” Korda said. “Game is trending in the right direction. Still need to tighten up some loose ends I feel like, maybe improve on a couple different areas, but that’s golf. That’s what I love about it. I feel like you can constantly improve.”

PLAYER NOTES

Rolex Rankings No. 142 Paula Reto (62-69-67-67)

• Reto hit nine of 13 fairways and 13 of 18 greens, with 28 putts
• Reto is the season’s second winner from South Africa, joining Ashleigh Buhai (AIG Women’s Open), and the fourth LPGA Tour winner from South Africa, joining Sally Little (15 wins), Buhai (one win) and Lee-Anne Pace (one win)
• She is the eighth Rolex First-Time Winner of the 2022 LPGA Tour season and the fourth consecutive first-time winner; the last time the LPGA Tour had four consecutive first-time winners was 2005
• Reto broke Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club’s course record with her first-round 62; the record was matched by Lindy Johnson in the second round.  
• Reto’s first-round 62 is the lowest round of her LPGA Tour career
• Reto’s first-round 62 also ties the low round overall of the 2022 LPGA Tour season.
• Reto’s 265 is the lowest 72-hole score of her LPGA Tour career, besting the 270 she shot at the 2016 Cognizant Founders Cup
• This is Reto’s sixth appearance in the CP Women’s Open; her previous best finish of T25 came in 2015 at Vancouver Golf Club
• This is Reto’s ninth season on the LPGA Tour; she has made 14 of 19 cuts this year, with a previous season-best finish of T9 at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play presented by MGM Rewards
• Reto represented South Africa in the 2016 Rio Olympics and finished T16
• Her best finish on the LPGA Tour is a solo third-place result at the 2014 Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic

SOCIAL MEDIA: #DRIVEON

Tournament: @CPWomensOpen (Twitter, Instagram), #CPWO

LPGA: @LPGA, @LPGAMedia (Twitter); @lpga_tour (Instagram)

TOURNAMENT SCORING RECORDS

18 holes: 62, Song-Hee Kim, second round, 2009; Mo Martin, fourth round, 2018; Paula Reto, first round, 2022; Lindy Duncan, second round, 2022

72 holes: 262, Jin Young Ko, 2019

COURTESY LPGA COMMUNICATIONS