Seung-Yul Noh stands at second place - Reno Tahoe Open
South Korea’s Seung-Yul Noh has found himself in an unusual place at Reno Tahoe Open. The rookie of the year is just a point behind the leader, the Argentinean Romero. Seung, who did not even expect himself to play at this event, is one of the leaders at
the top.
The tournament uses a modified version of the Stableford scoring system. The system is being used for the first time since 2006. It was introduced so that players do not lose their hopes even after shooting a few bad rounds.
The Stableford scoring encourages the players to hit big because the more the eagles or birdies, the more points a player will gather.
The South Korean had shot seven birdies and a bogey in his round to sit comfortably at the second position with thirteen points. Behind the Korean are the three Americans, sitting with eleven points.
The South Korean who turned professional in 2007 has been the best player in Korea for a long time now. This is his rookie year on the PGA tour, and this was his first time playing on such a format.
Noh had changed his caddie a few weeks ago, as he had some other plans. He wanted to play for the upcoming PGA Championship but his caddie forced him to play at Reno Tahoe Open.
Michael Bastor told Noh that his game is well suited for the Stableford system and he should play in this event.
"I get a lot of birdies, normally five birdies per round," Noh said. "So Mike wanted me to play this week."
To score an eagle is extremely difficult but the course is not that tough and the par five holes are not that long. In just two shots, a player can register an eagle on the par five hole.
It was Mallinger who eagled on the eight hole. "Just kind of skipped one, hopped one in," he said. "In this format eagles are massive so just jumped me right up the leader board".
The more interesting thing was that his tee shot landed in the bunker, but he holed in from 110 yards right from the sand.
American, John Daly currently has 10 points and is in contention for the title.
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