At the end of a beautiful day in Evian-les-Baines, it’s crowded near the top of the leaderboard, but one player has earned the sole spotlight. South African Paula Reto emerged as the leader in the clubhouse at the Amundi Evian Championship after a 7-under 64 to hold the 18-hole lead/co-lead for the first time at a major championship.
Reto opened the championship with her second-best round of the season after starting off No. 10. With an early bogey on her second hole, Reto quickly rebounded, making three birdies on her front nine to turn with a two-under 34. She continued her streak of great putting with five birdies on her back nine, including four in her last five holes. With a total of eight birdies, she needed only 24 putts to have the best round of the day amongst the field.
This is not Reto’s first appearance at Evian, but it has been the best start she has had in the tournament. She has played four times previously, missing the cut in 2015 and 2022, withdrawing in 2021 and finishing T48 in 2016.
“This golf course is so fun and the views and everything, it's just awesome to be here. But hit some good quality shots beginning of the round. Just gave myself opportunities. One birdie dropped and you sort of try to do the same thing over and over and just put yourself in good spots on this golf course,” said Reto, the 2022 CPKC Women’s Open champion. “Got a lucky bounce on 16 and I was like, oh, maybe I need that in my round. Yeah, and then sort of like the back nine, I just didn't think too much about it. Just sort of like what I got going on in front of me and made a couple good tap-ins on the par-5s. It was nice.”
Her first-round 64 was the best on the day by two shots, placing her in front of 2015 U.S. Solheim Cup participant Alison Lee, three-time LPGA Tour winner Celine Boutier, Thai player Wichanee Meechai and 2015 Amundi Evian Champion Lydia Ko. All but Ko teed off in the morning wave, with Boutier putting on quite the performance in her home country thanks to six birdies and just one bogey.
“Honestly you play mind games with yourself. You just tell yourself you're not at home. (Laughter.) Honestly, not overthink it. Try to like think like a normal tournament and just approach the course like a regular course, if that makes sense,” said Boutier, who finished in a tie for third at last week’s Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational with her playing partner Yuka Saso. “Instead of just being like over-cautious or like over-dramatic. I feel like especially on this course it's easy to do because there is so much like I feel danger zones everywhere. It's really easy to get wrapped into that. This year I just decided to I guess try to approach it as a regular event.”
Nine players sit in a tie for sixth at -4, including major champions A Lim Kim, Eun-Hee Ji and Saso. Defending champion Brooke Henderson landed herself in a tie for 19th at -2 after four birdies and two bogeys on the car. American Rose Zhang, in her first Amundi Evian Championship as a professional, also finished at T19 heading into Friday.
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