It’s been 12 years but that shot is clear as day in my mind’s eye. It was the 2011 Avantha Masters, a tai-sanctioned European-Asian-PGTI Tour event that was being played at the DLF G&CC in the National Capital Region. I was following 19-year-old Korean sensation Seung-Yul Noh, who was playing in a three-ball with PGTI pro Sanjay Kumar. On a long par-5, Noh’s drive found a fairway bunker: the play was clearly a lay-up with the wind blowing against the players and the green was about 245 yards away. I was the only one following the players that day, and Kumar would occasionally chat with me on the sidelines.
Noh had outdriven Kumar by 30 yards, and the Lucknow pro hit his second safely down the fairway. Then he came over to chat and we waited as Noh deliberated over his shot. After changing clubs a couple of times the kid drew what looked like a long iron ( I later found that he’d pulled out a three-iron) — a bewildering choice by any standards. As we watched, he proceeded to hit a sizzler that cut through the wind and landed 10 feet from the pin. What I remember most about that day (besides my amazement), was how gobsmacked Kumar was. “How did he do that?” he mumbled before clapping enthusiastically to show his appreciation. I remember running up to that bunker before Noh’s caddy raked it, just to see what the lie had been like. A clean one it turned out, but not a grain of sand had been disturbed below where his ball had stopped. Noh proceeded to make the putt for a stunning Eagle.
At the press conference later I asked Noh about that shot and he said something about practicing all his irons on the beach at home. Apparently, if you don’t catch it clean from the sand, the ball goes nowhere. I remember thinking just how crazy you’d have to be about the game to go on a beach and find a place to safely hit golf balls. No matter how nuts you are about this game, someone else is even more so. And no matter how good you get at it, there’s always someone who’s in a different league from you. Just ask Kumar — I’m certain he remembers that shot as clearly as I do.
I was reminded of that unforgettable shot when I was watching the first-round highlights from the Byron Nelson Classic that ends today. As I write this, the second round is about to commence. Not sure how things have turned out for Noh as you read this, but irrespective, the scintillating 11-under-60 that he shot on Thursday this week, is a clear indication that the 31-year-old is rediscovering the kind of form that saw him become the second-youngest player to ever win on the European Tour (after New Zealander Danny Lee) when he won the 2010 Maybank Malaysian Open. Noh tasted success on the PGA Tour as well when he won the 2014 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. In 2017, the Korean decided to take a two-year hiatus from the game to fulfill his mandatory two-year conscription in the Korean military.
At the Craig Ranch GC this week, Noh’s 11-under 60 tied his personal best on the PGA Tour that was fired not just by his trademark driving but no less than 181 feet of putts that included a 27-foot par save at No. 16 and a 34-foot birdie at No. 17. His performance was made even more exceptional by the fact that he played with 13 clubs for three holes when his driver head cracked on the par-4 12th hole. After an errant tee shot, Noh realised he’d cracked his driver head. “I’m trying to hit a draw and it was a pretty solid hit but it went 70 yards right. I was like, where did this come from?” Noh said.
Noh was not allowed to replace the club at the time. Under Model Local Rule G-9, a club is not replaceable solely because of a crack. “There needed to be some more subsequent damage other than just a hairline crack,” chief referee John Mutch said.
Now the amendment to change a damaged club has just come in this year, and it’s precisely for situations like this. But apparently, there’s still a grey area that needs to be addressed. It took two wild drives on the par-4 13th (Noh had to hit a provisional), for Mutch to determine that “significant damage” had in fact occurred, allowing Noh to take the driver out of play. “There was definitely separation in the metal on the face, and there was clear concavity in the face. Concavity renders a club face non-conforming. So the club at that point was unfit for play,” Mutch said. Don’t ask me how that works.
Despite all the drama—as he stood next to the ball after putting his drive smack dab in the middle of the fairway Noh had a chance at a 12-under 59, provided he made an Eagle. It was an almost identical shot to the one etched in my memory — 257 yards to the hole with the wind in his face — except that he had a perfect lie. I watched as he pulled out a long iron, waiting for an encore to unfold.
It didn’t. It was “borderline,” he said after the round. Noh laid up, hit a wedge to nine feet, and made the putt for 60. “It’s just the first day, I have to manage the score so I just laid up and tried to make birdie,” he said. Perhaps that’s what two years in the military teaches you, that sometimes it takes courage to not be a hero; to pick your battles, and win the war. I won’t be surprised at all if the Korean wins tonight.