A final tuneup is underway ahead of the 2023 PGA Championship, and — surprise, surprise — Scottie Scheffler is in contention.
The six-time PGA Tour winner looked like he was going to scare the all-time PGA Tour scoring record in a single round (58, Jim Furyk) through the first part of Thursday. He cooled off late, but he’s still within four of the lead going into Friday’s second round with just three players ahead of him.
Seung Yul Noh leads after 18 holes, and speaking of scaring scoring records, he did so (with some defunct equipment no less!) on Thursday. Noh shot a wild 11-under 60 and leads Adam Scott and Marty Dou by three each after Round 1.
Let’s take a closer look at his first round as well as what to watch for over the next three days.
The leaders
1. Seung Yul Noh (-11)
Noh shot a tournament record 60, gained nine strokes on the field and putted absolutely out of his mind en route to the three-stroke lead. He did all of it with a cracked driver for the latter part of his round. He was finally allowed to replace the club on the 16th hole after playing without one for a few holes.
The reason he wasn’t allowed to replace it earlier was because there has to be subsequent damage, noted referee John Mutch. A crack wasn’t enough to warrant it, but eventually the driver split even more, and Noh got a replacement.
“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.
The real story of Noh’s day, though, was his putter. He made putts of the following distances.
- 15 feet
- 39 feet
- 27 feet
- 34 feet
He gained 6.5 strokes with his putter, which is more than anyone else gained on the day. That’s amazing for him and it almost resulted in a 59, but it also screams “return to the mean” on Friday and beyond.
Others in contention …
Source : cbssports
