Golf-Noh targets rookie honours for debut PGA campaign (Reuters)
January 27, 2012
By Mark Lamport-Stokes
SAN DIEGO, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Noh Seung-yul is wary ofsetting himself over-ambitious goals but the emerging SouthKorean has confidently targeted rookie of the year honours forhis PGA Tour debut season.
Widely regarded as one of the best ball-strikers among thesport’s younger generation, the 20-year-old has set anadditional goal of qualifying for the lucrative FedExCupplayoffs in the latter part of the U.S. season.
“Every rookie is trying for rookie of the year and that is abig dream of mine for this year,” Noh told Reuters aftershooting a three-under-par 69 in the Farmers Insurance Openfirst round on Thursday.
“After that, my second goal is to make the FedExCup playoffsand I would like to play in the third stage of that,” he added,referring to the four-tournament season finale.
Noh, who at 18 became the youngest professional winner onthe European Tour when he beat compatriot K.J. Choi by onestroke to claim the 2010 Malaysian Open, is continually learningfrom his peers.
“Before every tournament, I play practice rounds with K.J.or Y.E. (Yang Yong-eun),” he said. “Korean players work hard andpractise hard and everybody is teaching and supporting everyoneelse to become better and better.
“We have good team work and there has been a lot of goodadvice for me.”
Noh, who burst onto the Asian Tour as a 16-year-old in 2008when he landed a maiden title in China during his first seasonbefore being voted rookie of the year, has never felt the burdenof expectation.
“Even after I won the Malaysian Open, I never felt any extrapressure after that because I am still so young,” he added.
“Every time I play, I am aiming to go higher and higher andhigher, but not too high. My place (golfing status) is low atthe moment compared to KJ, with his eight victories on the PGATour, and Y.E., with his major win. So I feel no pressure.”
YANG MOTIVATION
Noh, who is coached by swing guru Butch Harmon, said Yang’sremarkable victory in the 2009 PGA Championship at HazeltineNational had been a huge source of motivation for him.
Yang became Asia’s first male major winner after overhaulingTiger Woods in stunning fashion to triumph by three shots.
“So I am thinking I can do it too if Y.E. has won a major,”Noh said.
“And I am so young, only 20-years-old, much younger thanY.E. and K.J. so I have more chances than them in the future. Igot a lot of confidence when Y.E won that major.”
Ranked 116th in the world, Noh is making his thirdsuccessive appearance on the 2012 PGA Tour this week.
He finished 66th at the Sony Open in Hawaii and then missedthe cut at last week’s Humana Challenge despite opening with a65.
“I qualified for the tour at Q-school and then had one monthof practice before the start of the season,” Noh said. “By thetime I started in Hawaii, I wasn’t consistent with my golf swingand with my short game.
“But I mainly played good today. On the front nine, I amscoring two over but I was driving the ball okay. Then I playedwell,” he added, referring to his back nine five-under 31 on theNorth Course.
Noh plans to play in next week’s Phoenix Open beforereturning to the European Tour for the Feb. 9-12 Dubai DesertClassic, and he fervently hopes fatigue will not become anegative factor.
“Here on the PGA Tour I am playing for four weeks straightso maybe I could lose body condition and that could bedifficult,” he said. “I need to be careful.” (Editing by John O’Brien; To query or comment on this storyemail sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
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