|
 [May 12, 2023]
Seung-yul "S.Y." Noh of South Korea, the No. 536-ranked
player in the world, flirted with history but happily signed for an
11-under 60 to take the early lead during the first round of the
AT&T Byron Nelson on Thursday in McKinney, Texas.
Low numbers were there for the taking at TPC Craig Ranch -- in fact,
Colombia's Sebastian Munoz opened the tournament with a 60 in 2022
-- but Noh established a three-shot lead on the field after falling
just shy of a 59.
Australian veteran Adam Scott and China's Zecheng Dou shot 8-under
63 to form a tie for second. World No. 2 and Dallas-area native
Scottie Scheffler eagled his final hole to shoot 7-under 64, tying
for fourth with Jason Day of Australia, Luke List, Richy Werenski,
Scott Piercy and Ryan Palmer.
Noh made an eagle and nine birdies to card the first 60 on the PGA
Tour since Patrick Cantlay's 60 at the Shriners Children's Open last
October.
The 31-year-old stepped to the tee at the par-5 18th hole needing an
eagle for 59. Rather than go for the green in two shots, he laid
back short of a water hazard and used a wedge for the third shot,
which spun to within 9 feet of the hole. He settled for birdie.
"Except two shots off the tee through the green, everything going
perfectly today," Noh said. "Then I'm really happy for my career low
on the PGA Tour."
Those two shots off the tee were far from perfect because Noh
actually cracked his driver head on the 12th hole. He saved par, but
the damage became worse after he tried to use it again at the 13th
tee, and a rules official allowed Noh to get a replacement
mid-round.
Noh holed 181 feet and 7 inches worth of putts, according to Golf
Digest. The highlights included a 40-foot birdie at No. 11, a
27-foot par save at the par-4 16th and a 34-footer for birdie at the
par-3 17th.
Noh said he had "no idea" why his putter was magic on Thursday.
"After making 16 long par putt, I talked to (playing partner) James
Hahn," Noh said. "I said, ‘What's going on, what happened today?' He
said, ‘Just don't think about it, just go play.' No idea, just go
make everything today."
[to top of second column] |
Noh has won once on the PGA Tour -- the 2014 Zurich
Classic of New Orleans, before that tournament was converted into a
team event. He took two years off from his career to complete
mandatory military service in South Korea. Though he returned in
2019, his game has wavered; he was outside the top 1,000 in the
world rankings for much of last year.
If Noh should win the Byron Nelson, he would earn
the final spot in the field at next week's PGA Championship, the
second major of the season.
Dou recovered from an opening bogey by making nine birdies the rest
of the way. Scott started his round on the back nine and posted a
5-under 30 en route to his 63.
"It's probably the best I've driven it in forever," Scott said.
"That was a nice way to start every hole. Took advantage of that
nicely, certainly out of the gates on some of the long par-4s,
birdieing three of the first four holes on that side is a nice way
to start."
The home-crowd favorite was Scheffler, the highest-ranked player in
the field by a wide margin. He was 6 under through six holes after a
pitch-in eagle 2 from just off the green at No. 6.
Scheffler stalled in the middle of his round with a stretch of three
bogeys and four pars, but after snapping out of that funk with
consecutive birdies at Nos. 14-15, he reached the green in two at
No. 18 and drained his eagle putt from inside 15 feet.
"I was pretty frustrated mid-round," Scheffler said. "I didn't feel
like I was doing anything wrong, I just kind of got on the wrong end
of a few things, and the putts definitely weren't falling middle of
the round, but the beginning and the end everything was going in.
"Yeah, I'll remember those putts towards the end and the beginning
of the round. I hit a lot of good putts today and was fortunate to
shoot a good round."
Two-time defending champion K.H. Lee of South Korea opened with a
1-under 70.
--Field Level Media
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
