Paula Reto was just one off the pace on Friday after the first round of the LPGA Tour’s Shoprite LPGA Classic in New Jersey after she opened with a five-under-par 66.
She started her round on the 10th, and was immediately in the action with a birdie there. She followed it with a bogey on 11, but then she turned on the magic with birdies on 14, 17 and 18 as she turned in three-under 31 on the shorter of the two nines. Birdies on one and three bracketed a bogey on the second, and her third bogey of the day came on the seventh. She preceded that with a birdie on six, and closed things out with a final gain on the ninth.
At one stroke off the lead, she was in a share of third behind leaders So Yeun Ryu of Korea and Jodi Ewart Shadoff of England. Reto shared third with seven other players.
“I had a lot of the opportunities which was nice,” said Reto of her round. “There were a couple of three-putts here and there and I got the bogeys sneaking in. But it was fun and I had a good time and just tried and stay in the moment.
“I’m just on the inside of the 100 so it’s kind of critical for me the finish well these next two weeks. Hopefully I can do it this tournament. If I just keep giving myself opportunities to play well, I think it’ll eventually start to get better.”
Just one shot behind Reto on four-under was a group of 10 players in a share of 11th, including Ashleigh Buhai. The South African number one picked up an eagle three on the par-five third early in her round after she had started with a birdie on one and a bogey on two. It was an eventful first five holes, as she made birdie on four and bogey on five. She closed each nine with a birdie on none and on 18.
