MCKINNEY -- It's not unheard of for professional golfers to break clubs, nor is it unusual for them to break or tie course records. But it's highly unusual for a player to do both in the same round. But such was the case in Round 1 of the 2023 AT&T Byron Nelson held at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas.
S.Y. Noh hit a drive on the par-5 No. 12 and his ball steered drastically to the right. The same had happened on No. 11. Noh examined his driver along with his caddie and a rules official, and it was apparent the clubface was cracked, "When I hit (my drive) on 12, I was swinging so nicely, but it was like 70 yards right. So I just look at the driver and it got a crack in it.”
The rules are very clear about a broken club on tour. If a player intentionally breaks a club, including bending the shaft or knocking the clubhead off the shaft completely, the club must be taken out of play for the rest of the round. But since Noh's driver face cracked under normal playing conditions he was allowed to replace it with a new one with no penalty, according to rule 4.1a(2).
Noh went on to tie the TPC Craig Ranch course record of an 11-under 60. “You know, just everything was going amazing," Noh said later. "Like not perfect, it’s going amazing. Off the tee, I missed two drives because of the crack in the driver head. Except for two shots off the tee through the green, everything was going perfectly today. I’m really happy for my career low on the PGA Tour, one shot missed to 59, but I’m really happy with that.”
Noh finished the tournament at 7-under and tied for 74th place. After his opening-round of 60, he completed the final three days with 74-73-70 for a final of 277.
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