It’s been a good tournament for Paula Reto, and it got even better on Saturday with her third round of three-under-par 68 in the LPGA Tour’s Volunteers of America Classic at the Old American Golf Club in The Colony, Texas.
That took the South African number three female professional – she’s ranked 435th in the world, behind Ashleigh Buhai’s 76th and Lee-Anne Pace’s 207th – to eight-under for the tournament and a share of seventh heading into the final round. She made four birdies and a bogey and is six shots off the lead which is held by Jin Young Ko of South Korea.
“I’m definitely going to try my best,” said Reto of how she will approach the final round. “I’m just going to try to give myself as many opportunities as I can like I did today, and then just hope the putts fall.”
She had 28 putts in her third round, which is pretty good, but with hitting 13 of 18 greens in regulation, is she improves her accuracy in the final round, she will definitely be in with a shot as staying in the top 10. “I feel like on these types of greens you need to read the greens perfectly, speed, and that kind of thing,” she said. “So some good commitment on my lines and we’ll hope for the best. I’m in a good position to make a Sunday run, and maybe even finish top five, top three, something like that.”
She is drawn in the final round with Stacy Lewis of the United States and In Gee Chun of South Korea, and wants to make the most of playing with some of the top players in the world. “When I play with somebody that’s so accomplished, I try to learn from them, see what I can better myself at, and just sort of enjoy the moment,” she said. “Because obviously I haven’t been playing much with people that’s won as many times, so I just try to learn and enjoy it.”
