I Noh him! I interviewed hm back in 2010 at whistling Straits when he led for ten minutes or so…
Some Guy Yul Noh
If anyone personifies the unpredictability and wackiness of the tournament thus far, it’s the performance of a young breakout Korean star named Seung-Yul Noh. Pardon the bad pun, but you’ll know him pretty well this weekend if he adds to the 68-71, 5-under total he put up over the first two days at Whistling Straits.
Sadly, both he and his father – who was his caddie – speak about as much English as my cat. We turned the place upside down trying to find a communicator, but cat might have done a better job translating as the interview went nowhere fast. Here are some snippets from the few minutes I got with this polite and seemingly grateful 19-year-old future star who led the tournament for close to two hours:
How do we pronounce your name correctly?
S.Y. Noh
Tell us about your round out there.
I played practice rounds with K.J. Choi and Y.E. Yang. They are the best players in Korea. I want to follow in their footsteps and continue to play in America.
How did you play so well on such a difficult golf course?
In Korea, we have many golf courses. Some are difficult and some are easy. You also have golf courses in America and some of them are difficult. This one is difficult.
America has not met you yet. Can you tell us a little about your personal life, what you like to do for fun, and what your hobbies are?
In Korea, I am a university student. I am now playing golf on the Asian Tour and in America. When I am done, I will return to school.
At this point, I simply smiled, said “thank you” and went to go interview an armchair in the players lounge. I got better answers, too, but it’s only 1-under, so my editor told me to give it less ink.
Anyway, to fill in the blanks, Noh received his bid at the discretion of the PGA of America for his high Asian Tour World ranking and his position on the Asian Order of Merit. At age 19, the Korean phenom stands only 5’8″. He had a strong amateur career, winning the 2005 Korean Amateur Championship and 2005 Korean Junior title. He’s been part of the Korean Junior team in 2006 and ’07. He’s won twice on the European Tour, including this year’s Malaysian Open over K.J. Choi. If he wins, you can bet we’ll have to endure bad puns in sports page headlines like “Dr. Noh,” “Noh we can,” and “Noh he didn’t.”
The rest of tha article is here at Cybergolf.
And now Yu Noh too!
