McKINNEY, Texas—Seung Yul Noh thought he didn’t have quite enough distance with his 3-wood as he pondered going for eagle and a 59 on the par-5 18th hole in the first round of the Byron Nelson.
The South Korean didn’t seem to mind settling for tying the course record.
Noh made three putts of at least 25 feet on the back nine for an 11-under 60 and the early lead at the Nelson on Thursday, May 11.
Two-time defending champion K.H. Lee, also of South Korea, played in the afternoon as did headliner and hometown favorite Scottie Scheffler, at No. 2 the highest-ranked among four top 25 players in the field.
Adam Scott, who tied for fifth last week at Wells Fargo, was three shots back at 63 along with Dou Zecheng of China after the Australian’s best opening round since 2014. Luke List and Richy Werenski were another shot back at 64.
Noh, who hasn’t had a top-10 finish on tour since 2017, had to play part of his back nine without a driver when the head cracked on his tee shot on 12.
The 31-year-old journeyman with one career PGA Tour victory had a replacement by the time he reached the 547-yard 18th, and ended up 257 yards from the pin with a blind shot from the right side of the fairway.
Noh laid up short of the water in front of the green, hit his approach to nine feet and made the putt to tie Sebastián Muñoz’s record from a year ago at TPC Craig Ranch, in its third year of hosting the Nelson.
“So my 3-wood is going off the ground like 265, but it’s like just under 260 without the wind,” Noh said. “It’s like borderline.”
Noh decided against marring an otherwise great round with a mistake.
“Everything going good,” said Noh, who made an eight-foot eagle putt on the par-5 ninth. “Even wedge game and putting, everything going good. I’m just trying to make birdie, just forget about the eagle 59.”
Munoz finished at 12 under in his opening round last year, but the course is par-71 now after the 12th hole was converted from a 547-yard par-5 to a 493-yard par-4.
Noh, whose previous career low was 62 at the 2012 Deutsche Bank, kept alive his shot at 59 by making a 27-foot par putt on 16 and a 34-footer for birdie on the par-3 stadium hole at No. 17. He drained a 40-foot birdie putt on the par-4 11th.
Scott played the back nine first and chipped in for birdie on No. 12 while matching Noh’s opening 30. His momentum stalled with his only bogey on the par-4 sixth hole before Scott birdied his final two holes.
Henrik Norlander had six consecutive birdies and eight overall along with three bogeys in a 5–under 66 and was in a group that included Hideki Matsuyama.
