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 with the afternoon wave still in action.
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.”
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.
Australian veteran Adam Scott and China’s Zecheng Dou shot 8-under 63 in the early wave, and Luke List and Richy Werenski were tied for fourth at 7-under 64. The afternoon wave included world No. 2 and Dallas-area native Scottie Scheffler, who was 3 under through 13 holes.
–Field Level Media