Reto Wins Dixie Women's Am

CORAL SPRINGS, FL (Jan. 3, 2011) -- What could have been a walk in the park for South African Paula Reto turned into a nerve racking finish due to the stellar play of England’s Holly Clyburn and junior phenom Ginger Howard of Bradenton, Florida. Both fired closing round 2 under par 70s to fall just one short of Reto’s 74 and 3 under par 285 total. Reto’s 74 was highlighted by a gut it out par on the 18th hole as Howard watched a 4 foot slider just miss for par to tie. Clyburn and Howard steadily chipped away at Reto’s 5 stroke lead throughout the day. The 16 year old Howard let it be know that the walk in the park would be an uphill one as she birdied the first hole. Reto’s double bogey on the #1 handicap 6th hole brought both of her challengers to within one stroke. Reto built the lead back up to 2 with her birdie on the 14th but followed with bogeys on 15 and 17 to have her lead disappear. Argentina star Victoria Tanco’s 69 tied for the low round of the day and was good enough to move her into 4th place. Jaye Marie Green’s 69 was good enough to move her into a tie for 5th with fellow Boca Raton, Florida resident and University of Texas standout Madison Pressel. A spectacular day for the South Florida town saw a solo 7th place finish for Boca high school junior Kailey Walsh with a 3 over par 291. Reto’s win was her first “Major” individual win which caps off a splendid year which included a team NCAA Championship win for Purdue’s Lady Boilermakers.