Paula Reto had secured a spot in the Olympic Games representing South Africa after Lee-Anne Pace and Ashleigh Buhai withdrew from Toyko. She took a COVID-19 test for the Olympics while competing last week in the Amundi Evian Championship and learned at 10 p.m. on Saturday evening that she’d tested positive.
She was tied for 40th at the Evian through three rounds and was forced to withdraw from both a major championship and the Tokyo Games. A tremendous blow for any player, but especially for Reto given that a strong finish in France would go a long way toward keeping her LPGA card.
And it only got worse really, as she took four additional tests after that and tested negative for each. Reto, who had COVID-19 back in March and was fully vaccinated as of Sunday of Evian, missed out on both a major and the Olympics because of a bad test.
“I was like, ‘Is this not meant to be?’” said Reto. “It’s like I wanted it so badly and it kept moving.”
The LPGA allowed Reto to fly on to Northern Ireland, however, for this week’s ISPS Handa World Invitational where she tied for 17th without a practice round.
Reto, 31, isn’t in the next two fields in Scotland and ranks 111th on the CME Race to the Globe List, which determines status for 2022. She flew back home to Florida to rest after two months on the road. She’ll next fly over to Scotland to try and qualify for the AIG Women’s British Open at Carnoustie.
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