S.Y. Noh recorded three par-5 eagles at the 2nd, 6th and 12th, as well as five birdies and two bogeys at the 10th and 5th, amassing an 18-hole Barracuda Championship record 23 points (previous: 18 points in 2014, 2015 and 2019).
The South Korean becomes the fourth player this season to card three eagles in a round. He has not had a top-10 finish on the PGA Tour since a T5 at the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship. His best finish in 17 starts this season was T15 at the The RSM Classic; and he withdrew from last week’s Barbasol Championship due to a back injury.
“Playing in the afternoon, starting in the afternoon, the greens are getting firmer. And then a little windy, always windy in the afternoon. So unexpected playing like 23 points a day the first day. But it’s playing pretty good. Even a couple missed shots off the tee. But putting’s pretty good today. So everything is going pretty good today.
” I never make three eagles in my career overall in my career. So it’s first time ever make three eagles. Especially like on three par-5s. So, it’s just so much fun to play today.”
Following an ace at the 213-yard 3rd hole and an eagle-3 three holes later, Beau Hossler of the United States lies in second place with 17 points. He has twice been a runner-up in this event and remains in search of his first Tour title in his 168th start this week.
“Two eagles on the card is nice. Extra point on that. So I’m really happy with it. Hit it well. Felt like I putted okay and got a few to go.
“I was kind of in between clubs,” he said of his ace. “I think it was like 211, but at altitude it’s playing like 190. I hit 7-iron and it landed in a good spot and it went in. It looked like it was the only hole on Tour this year that had no camera.
“If you get the ball in play off the tee you can be pretty aggressive. The greens are pretty receptive. I think the biggest challenge right now for us is just the calculation of the altitude. Particularly like when you tee off early and it’s a little bit chilly in the morning it’s an adjustment kind of in the middle of the round. So today we did a really nice job of it. If you can get it in play you have a lot of wedges. So hopefully I can keep doing that and keep getting some pretty good looks after getting it in play off the tee.”
France’s Alexander Levy birdied five of his first seven holes, and eight total against no bogeys for a share of third placewith 16 points.
The USA’s Ryan Gerard shot nine birdies and two bogeys for a share of third place.
Carson Young double bogeyed his first hole, the par-4 10th, but went on to record 10 birdies, including four in a row from the 16th, as well as two bogeys and is tied in third place with 15 points.
Fellow American Patrick Rodgers produced eight birdies and a single bogey at the first hole to join him as did Germany’s Maximilian Kieffer who shot and eagle at the par-5 12th, seven birdies, a bogey and a double bogey at the par-4 16th.
Scoring
The Barracuda Championship utilizes the Modified Stableford scoring format, the first PGA Tour event to use the format since The International in 2006. Players are allocated points based on the number of strokes taken at each hole with the goal of achieving the highest overall score.
Albatross +8
Eagle +5
Birdie +2
Par 0
Bogey -1
Double bogey or worse -3
