Noh hasn’t finished outside the top 30 in her last six starts.
American Yealimi Noh needed only 20 putts in a second-round 65 at the Toto Japan Classic, where she trails JLPGA player Hana Wakimoto by two strokes.
Noh, 23, hasn’t finished outside the top 30 in her last six starts.
“For me, last year, I was really struggling with my putting and I just needed something new and something completely different,” said Noh, who switched to a broomstick putter late in the summer last year.
“I never even thought of trying it, but my coach and my dad suggested it to me and I tried it. It helped me get over that uneasy feeling over the ball. So, that’s how it started and now using it a year after, my stroke has gotten really solid and my speed is great with the putter so it has helped me a lot.”
Noh ranked 130th in putts per green in regulation on tour in 2022 and 102nd in 2023. She currently ranks 41st in the category.
Yealimi Noh hits her tee shot on the third hole during the second round of the 2024 Toto Japan Classic at Seta Golf Course in Otsu, Shiga, Japan. (Yoshimasa Nakano/Getty Images)
Noh, who also benefitted from a chip-in on the 14th, posted four consecutive birdies from Nos. 4-7. She’s 11 under through two rounds and tied for a share of second with former No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn, who shot 66. Noh was one of three players to card a 65 on Friday, along with Rio Takeda and Yuna Nishimura.
“The greens are very slopey here,” said Noh of Seta Golf Course in Otsu, Shiga, Japan.
“A lot more undulation than we’re used to in the States. Mainly just it being all back to front. Can be quick. But it’s a little soft this year, so a little less.”
Another former No. 1, Jin Young Ko, slipped down to a share of fifth after a second-round 70.
Wakimoto, the overnight leader, is currently ranked 236th in the world and leads the field in birdies with 14. A member of the JLPGA since 2018, her best finish on that tour is a tie for fourth at the 2019 AXA Ladies Golf Tournament in Myazaki.
The two-time major winner has been struggling with an ailing back this season.
World No. 2 Lilia Vu’s name has dropped from the field list for the 79th U.S. Women’s Open, held May 30 to June 2. The two-time major winner has been struggling with an ailing back this season. She last competed on tour in late March at the Ford Championship, where she tied for 21st.
Vu was replaced in the field at Lancaster (Pa.) Country Club by Yealimi Noh, who shot 69-73 at Rainier Golf and Country Club in Seattle, Washington. Noh was the second alternate from the Rainier site.
Ssu Chia Cheng was the first alternate at Rainier but was placed in the field on May 18 during the qualifying window after USGA officials determined that a fourth qualifying spot should be added to that site based on strength of field, according to a USGA official.
Once the qualifying window concluded, the Rainier site was placed high on the re-allotment list based on strength of field. That’s how Noh got in.
Yealimi Noh of the United States plays her shot from the second tee during the Final round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G at Pinnacle Country Club on October 01, 2023 in Rogers, Arkansas. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Vu, 26, withdrew from the Chevron Championship in April, where she was defending her title, before the start of the first round after a painful warmup session. The former UCLA standout won four times on the LPGA last season and spent 28 weeks atop the Rolex Rankings.
The U.S. Women’s Open field of 156 players will be finalized on Monday after the release of the Rolex Rankings. At that time, the USGA will release which qualifying sites are up first and second in the case of additional withdrawals from fully exempt players.
There’s additional interest in alternate spots this year after transgender golfer Hailey Davidson came within one spot of qualifying for Lancaster. Davidson posted rounds of 70-73 in the 36-hole qualifier at Bradenton (Florida) Country Club, where only two players advanced. Davidson won a playoff – draining a 25-foot birdie putt – to earn the first alternate position from that site.
Should one of the two amateurs who qualified from Bradenton withdraw – Amelie Zalsman of St. Petersburg, Florida, or Pimpisa Sisutham of Thailand – Davidson would get into the field.
Otherwise, she’s quite far down the overall re-allotment list to have a chance (the list used to replace fully exempt players), posting on her Instagram story that she’s 18th.
With eight events left in the 2023 LPGA season, it’s crunch time for players needing to make a move.
With eight events left in the 2023 LPGA season, it’s crunch time for players needing to make a move. The top 60 players on the Race to CME Globe points list gain entry into the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, where anyone in the field can win the top prize in women’s golf of $2 million. The last player in this year’s field is guaranteed to make at least $40,000.
Last week’s winner, Ally Ewing, jumped from 71st to 30th with her victory in Cincinnati. Maria Fassi, who finished a career-best solo third, jumped from 96th to 67th, just outside the mark. The story around Fassi suddenly shifted from possible Q-Series to possible Tour Championship.
The top 100 on the CME points list keep their LPGA cards for 2023.
Some rules violations hit harder than others, while others just make you scratch your head.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all on the golf course, something else comes along to baffle fans, players, and rules officials alike.
The rules of golf can come up and bite you (pun intended: see fire ants below), if you’re not paying attention. Other times, weird things just happen. Further still, sometimes golfers simply don’t know a particular rule.
New rules of golf were rolled out on Jan. 1, 2019, but most of what trips golfers up continues to be of the tried-and-true variety.
As we get set to close out the year that was 2021, here’s a rundown of some of the memorable moments that involved rules violations.
Golfweek’s Steve DiMeglio, Beth Ann Nichols, Adam Schupak and Adam Woodard contributed to this article.
The AIG Women’s British Open is the final qualifying event before picks are made for next month’s Solheim Cup.
Last week, American Ryann O’Toole won for the first time in her 228th start on tour. Now, a winless Mina Harigae co-leads with Georgia Hall at the AIG Women’s British Open in her 243rd LPGA start.
Could either of them make the U.S. Solheim Cup team?
Harigae currently ranks 13th on the U.S. Solheim Cup points list and a victory this week could bump her into the top seven, which automatically qualifies. O’Toole would need something special over the weekend to get into the conversation. She opened with a 1-under 71.
The AIG is the final qualifying event before picks are made for the Sept. 4-6 event at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.
“I’m a much better golfer the last 12 months,” said Harigae. “I’ve been playing well. So I just feel like I’m in a good place.”
Harigae won several events on the Cactus Tour in 2020 during the LPGA’s 166-day break during the pandemic and rediscovered something crucial in her time on the Arizona-based mini tour: the joy of competing.
The change in mindset came in part thanks to Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, who practices at the same club as Harigae – Superstition Mountain – and shares the same fitness instructor.
“She said she honestly just loves to compete,” Harigae told Golfweek last year. “She loves the competition. She doesn’t care whether it’s for $1,000, $2,000, $5 or $1 million. All she wants to do is compete with people.
“That’s when I realized my mindset the last few years – I haven’t even been thinking about that. It was more of, I need to be out here to make money or I need to keep my card.”
Harigae carried the momentum over to the LPGA when the tour resumed last July.
Rookie Yealimi Noh currently sits in a share of fifth, two shots back, at 5 under. After recently contending at the Amundi Evian Championship and posting a top 10 at the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open, Noh, No. 29 in the world, should be on the short list when it comes to who U.S. captain Pat Hurst is watching.
Noh said she’s been successful at keeping the Solheim Cup out of her mind on the course in recent weeks.
“Of course it’s a goal of mine to be on the Solheim Cup,” said Noh, “and it has since I turned pro, and especially the beginning of this year and just always keeping it there but not focusing too much on it, because it’s better to just focus on the golf.
“Actually, I don’t think about it like when I’m playing. You would think like every – especially towards the end of the week, you’d be like, ‘Oh, one more birdie or whatever and I’m closer,’ but you really don’t.”
Yealimi Noh lines up her second putt shot on the 18th green during round two on the second day of the 45th AIG Women’s Open at Carnoustie, Scotland on August 20, 2021. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Lizette Salas, who finished runner-up to Nelly Korda at the KPMG Women’s PGA, currently holds one of two spots off the Rolex Rankings list for Solheim. She’s currently 25th in the world.
Salas said she put a new putter into play this week and is using a greens book.
“It’s a Ping putter and honestly I went into the truck this week and I just needed to look at something different,” said Salas. “I’ve been out here for six weeks and I needed a change. It’s a different hosel. It’s more toe-hang putter and sets up really well and I’m obviously making a few putts out there. So yeah, that’s the new toy.”
Salas opened up at the KPMG last June about her recent mental health struggles when she contemplated retiring from the tour. Since the KPMG, Salas’ best finish has been a T-25 at the Evian.
“You know, a lot happened that week, a lot of good things,” said Salas. “I think it also changed my expectations of myself … honestly I have not been performing or putting as well as I did that week which has really been frustrating. So it’s been a lot of mixed emotions. My swing, my ball-striking’s been on point. It’s just the putts haven’t been dropping.
“So for me that’s kind of been like it hurts a little bit to know that I could still hit the shots but I can’t finish the job. Honestly, I probably should have taken a break after KPMG. I kind of pushed myself a little too much physically and mentally to continue competing, but you know, this is all a learning experience. Now I know like what my body and my mind can take or my mental game can take. You know, we are just trying to have some fun and finish on a good note this week.”
Yealimi Noh vaulted into the early lead on an ideal scoring day at the Evian.
Rookie Yealimi Noh holed out for eagle on her opening hole at the Amundi Evian Championship to help vault her into a share of the lead with Pajaree Anannarukarn at 6 under.
Noh, 19, said that after her playing competitors threw in darts on the first hole at Evian Resort Golf Club, she didn’t want to be left out. She hit a soft 9-iron from 126 yards.
“I think it’s the first time I’ve ever done that,” said Noh. “I was just like, what? Like OK. It was really cool.”
Both Noh and Anannarukarn took a share of third at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational. Noh paired up with 2020 U.S. Women’s Open winner A Lim Kim and Anannarukarn played with Aditi Ashok.
“I learned a lot from A Lim,” said Noh, “and I took a lot of positives from her just like her attitude on the course and just how she carries herself, so it was really nice to see that.”
Noh hit 16 greens and took 29 putts in her opening round. She tied for 44th at this event in her debut at Evian before joining the tour.
For Anannarukarn, the bogey-free 65 marked her lowest round in a major. In 2019, Anannarukarn opened with back-to-back 68s and ultimately tied for 25th in her Evian debut.
“Obviously I really enjoyed my week two years ago,” said Anannarukarn. “I played great golf, just last two days or final round didn’t go the way I wanted to. But again, I really like the course. The course is in great condition. It probably suits my game.”
Scoring conditions were ideal in the opening round at Evian. Major champions Ariya Jutanugarn and Hyo Joo Kim hold a share of third at 4 under. Kim won the 2014 Evian with a major record-setting 61 in the first round. Jutanugarn, who won the Dow last week with sister Moriya, chipped in for eagle on her final hole, the par-5 ninth, to shoot 67.
“I will say I love this place so much,” said Ariya, “especially the views, everything, the golf course. Even though I never played good here because I feel like the course is so tough. Maybe the course doesn’t like me.”
Jutanugarn finished fifth at the 2019 Evian, her best showing to date.
Matilda Castren, one of the hottest players on tour who comes to her first Evian fresh off a win at the Ladies European Tour’s Gant Ladies Open in her native Finland, carried on her fine play with a 3-under 68. The victory gave Castren LET membership, which makes her now eligible for the Solheim Cup.
Matilda Castren hits her second shot on hole 6 during day one of the The Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club on July 22, 2021 in Evian-les-Bains, France. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
Castren is the only European to win on the LPGA season. She admitted to feeling fatigued Thursday morning, noting that it’s her fifth week in a row. Despite the tired legs, her strong, smooth mental approach kept up her streak of solid play.
“I feel like I’ve been really patient this year,” said Castren, “and I’ve managed to kind of get in the mental space that I’ve just let things happen and not trying to like force things.
“That definitely helps me minimize the mistakes and recover from them, make birdies and just kind of play really steady golf.”
French amateur Pauline Roussin-Bouchard joins Castren in a share of sixth after an impressive 68. The South Carolina standout, currently ranked No. 6 in the world, said her experience at the 2019 Evian, where she missed the cut, helped prepare her for this week.
“I just learned so much about myself,” said Roussin-Bouchard, “about how to deal with all the people, with media, with my own family, my coach, my caddie and all that. I just learned a lot that helped me for the U.S. Open, and I kept learning at the U.S. Open to be prepared for these tournaments, also learned in Augusta. So it’s just details and facts that I identify and then I just learn from them, and I just apply.”
World No. 1 Nelly Korda struggled with a 3-over 74 that included a whiffed bunker shot on her final hole.
Rookie season 2.0 hasn’t been smooth for Yealimi Noh, considering the strong half-season she enjoyed in 2020.
JOHNS CREEK, Georgia – Rookie season 2.0 hasn’t been smooth for Yealimi Noh. Not how she pictured it would be at least, considering the strong half-season she enjoyed in 2020.
Noh, who at 19 is the youngest player in the field, opened with a 3-under 69 at the KPMG Women’s PGA, armed with a new arm-lock putter that helped her birdie six holes en route to a share of second behind leader Lizette Salas.
In March at the Kia Classic, Noh was hit with a $10,000 slow-play fine that rocked her world. The next week at the ANA Inspiration, Noh told Golfweek that she couldn’t appeal because it was obviously her fault. She feels differently about it now.
“I was quite emotional and still thinking I deserved it,” said Noh, “but I don’t think I did.”
After the fine, Noh felt that some people looked at her differently, like, “Oh, she’s a slow player.” She got paranoid about rules officials, constantly feeling the need to look over her shoulder. It’s still that way to an extent.
“It was like 10 seconds and $10,000,” said a frustrated Noh. “Not even a full minute, and I got fined that much.
“If I’m being straight up, there’s a lot of players who are slower when there are no rules officials around, and they just know how to work around it.”
Noh has tried to focus on the positive. She had a long talk with her trainer and mental coach this week about waiting for her time to come. Several of her peers have won majors of late, including fellow rookie Patty Tavatanakit and Yuka Saso. Noh still thinks about the AJGA Thunderbird Invitational when she finished second to Saso. None of that feels too long ago.
“It just drives me to work harder,” said Noh, “but I don’t want to rush myself. I don’t want to be like ‘Oh since they did it, I have to do it, too.’ Everyone has their own timing. Inspired by them, but I don’t want to be rushed.”
Winning isn’t the only thing on her mind. Noh, currently ranked 62nd, also has a chance at making her first Solheim Cup team in 2021. Her best bet is to qualify off the Rolex Rankings (two spots) or be selected as one of three of U.S. captain Pat Hurst’s picks. The team will be finalized after the AIG Women’s British Open (Aug. 19-22). Noh represented the U.S. on both Junior Ryder Cup and Junior Solheim Cup teams.
“It would be amazing,” said Noh, “and I still believe that I have a good chance at it.”
LPGA rookie Yealimi Noh was hit with a $10,000 slow-play fine from last week’s Kia Classic.
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Yealimi Noh tied for 61st at the Kia Classic and took home a $4,247 paycheck. But she actually lost money on the week after a $10,000 slow-play fine.
Noh, 19, said a rules official showed up mid-way through the front nine and hung around for nine holes. She received bad times on Nos. 10 and 12.
“I can’t appeal because it’s obviously my fault,” said Noh as she walked to the 1st tee during a practice round at this week’s ANA Inspiration.
Noh received her first pace-of-play fine in her first event as a rookie in 2020, the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio where she tied for 35th.
“A couple rookies got fines,” said Noh. “Like OK, it’s a heads-up for us rookies to catch up or whatever.”
Because Noh received a pace-of-play fine in 2020, the fine doubled for 2021. If she has a clean slate in 2022, it will revert back to the original price of $2,500. (Because COVID-19 limited the number of events in 2020, the rookies from last year are still considered rookies this year.)
Noh, who is ranked 47th in the world, had a new caddie last week in Carlsbad, California, and said the she was taking extra time on her approach shots on Saturday because she didn’t hit the ball great in the second round. She forgot the official was even there.
It was especially difficult for the teenager to explain the lost wages to mom and dad.
“As much as I think about it’s a good learning experience,” said Noh, “obviously now I’m never going to do that again hopefully, which is good. It’s hard to get over; that’s a lot of money.”
The LPGA also handed out its first two-stroke penalty of 2020 to Robynn Ree for being out of position at least week’s Kia Classic. Ree missed the cut.
Yealimi Noh, Haley Moore and Andrea Lee among those who are rookies all over again in 2021 after coronavirus impacted the 2020 season.
There’s a back-up of appointments at the DMV, which means 19-year-old Yealimi Noh faces an even longer wait now to get her driver’s license. Noh still lives at home with her parents in Concord, California, and has no plans to move out anytime soon. They travel the LPGA as a family of three, and she’s quite happy to have help navigating these early years of professional life.
Noh won $415,307 in official earnings last year on the LPGA, contending several times and climbing to 46th in the world. It was a terrific rookie season, given that it was shortened to only 16 events due to a global pandemic.
Here’s the strange part: She gets to have her rookie season all over again.
The LPGA decided not to hold the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race in 2020 due the pandemic. Unless a player won in 2020, her place on the priority list remained unchanged heading into 2021. It amounts to an unheard of mulligan season for 19 young pros.
“For us to have half of a year last year,” said Noh, “is like a preview for what it’s going to be like for the rest of our career.”
Five new rookies have been added to the mix for 2021, highlighted by 2020 U.S. Women’s Open winner A Lim Kim. Four Symetra grads have also joined the 2021 class.
Andrea Lee isn’t quite sure at this point what her first event will be this season. She starts 2021 at 160th on the LPGA priority list despite finishing 48th on the money list last year with $242,944. It’s likely that a number of international players will skip the first few events in Florida, which would help her cause. The Gainbridge LPGA event at Lake Nona Feb. 25-28 will have a field of 120 players.
While a rookie couldn’t move up the priority list without winning, she could move up the Rolex Rankings and money list, which helps at the majors and Solheim Cup. And for those who, like Noh and Lee, made a nice living last year, it’s clutch for a rookie to have a financial cushion to start the year (that wasn’t a loan!).
Haley Moore poses Bob McNichols, Longbow Golf Club General Manager, and Mike Brown, Cactus Tour Director, on Dec. 27, 2020, after Moore won $10,000 for claiming the the inaugural Longbow Cactus Cup Championship in Mesa, Arizona. Photo by Noah Montgomery
On the course, a string of missed cuts points to a disappointing rookie season for Haley Moore. But the year was about so much more than that. Moore started her new foundation to fight bullying. She also appeared on Good Morning America with Robin Roberts and was part of the LPGA’s Drive On ad campaign.
On Christmas Day, Moore and her mother drove to Arizona for the winner-take-all Longbow Cactus Cup Championship, a celebration of the top money earners on the developmental Cactus Tour. Moore birdied the first playoff hole to win the $10,000 prize, which equaled nearly half her earnings on the LPGA.
Moore said her swing coach, who is based in Arizona, came out and watched her compete, which was hugely beneficial as they mapped out an offseason plan.
Moore noted that her biggest lesson from 2020 was learning to stay patient and steady.
“If you have a bad week and happen to not make the cut,” said Moore, “you just have to let it go and move on to the next event, as the next event could be the best you’ve ever had.”
Noh, like many rookies before her, had underestimated the role a caddie plays in her success. David Stone picked up her back for the last few events of the LPGA season and she saw an immediate change.
“The first event that I was with him I played really well,” she said of her tie for second at the Volunteers of America Classic. “The week before I was playing the same exact golf, it was just that he was next to me giving me a lot of confidence, hyping me up. Now I know exactly what I want to hear, what I want in a game plan.”
While Stone heads back to the PGA Tour, he helped Noh connect with Kyle Morrison for the 2021 season.
Noh said everything about her success comes down to putting. She has big goals set for her second rookie year, starting with winning an event “as soon as possible.” She’d also like to be a rookie on this year’s U.S. Solheim Cup team and compete in the Tokyo Summer Olympics.
Noh, who has contended several times already on the LPGA, said Sei Young Kim has taken on a sisterly role, first reaching out after she finished runner-up at the 2019 Cambia Portland Classic as a non-member.
The focus in 2021 has shifted from trying to experience everything for the first time, she said, to playing to win. The talented teen is comfortable with whatever pressure follows.
“A little pressure never kills anyone,” said Noh. “I think pressure is great.”
While the 15 events Lee competed in last year were more than she anticipated getting in, she did miss out on a big one after she tested positive for COVID-19 the week of the U.S. Women’s Open.
“The first few days in my hotel room I was pretty miserable,” said Lee. “I was depressed.”
She devoured Phil Knight’s memoir, Shoe Dog, in two days and binged on The Queen’s Gambit. It wasn’t long before she was one of four rookies teeing it up in the CME Group Tour Championship.
The former Stanford standout thought she might go skiing over offseason but decided she couldn’t take that much time off. she wants to add length off the tee, a higher ball trajectory for her longer irons and sharpen the edges from 100 yards and in.
“This year is kind of like you said, a do-over,” said Lee, “and I’m going to try to put myself in the best position to try and win Rookie of the Year.”
To do it, she’ll have to beat the most experienced rookie class in tour history.
Yealimi Noh, Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu lead the Volunteers of America Classic after 54 holes.
The Volunteers of America title is anyone’s for the taking through 54 holes, although 19-year-old Yealimi Noh is making it especially interesting.
After carding a 66 Friday, the second round’s lowest score, Noh finished Saturday even-par 71 to sit in a three-way tie for the lead at 4 under at Old American Golf Club.
Noh, who split the 36-hole lead with Anna Nordqvist and Jessica Korda, began her round with birdies on Nos. 2 and 6 and added a bogey on 8. She added another bogey on 11 to sit at even par for the day before carding birdies on 13 and 17. Looking for her first LPGA win, Noh looked as if she would carry a two-shot lead into the final round, but double-bogeyed 18 to lose her sole lead and sit tied with Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu.
The rookie most recently finished T-39 at the Pelican Women’s Championship and T-24 at the LPGA Drive On Championship. In her 13 appearances on tour, her best finish has been a T-3 at the Cambia Portland Classic in September.
Se Yeon Ruy on the 12th hole during the third round of the 2020 Volunteers of America Classic at the Old American Golf Club in The Colony, Texas. (Chuck Burton/Getty Images)
Park took a turn atop the leaderboard after back-to-back birdies on Nos. 8 and 9, but a bogey on 11 dropped her from the top spot. She finished Saturday 2 under 69.
In her first event back on the LPGA since February, Ryu carded the lowest round of the week Saturday with a 6-under 65, bouncing back from consecutive 72s at Old American. She carded five birdies on the front nine and added one more on 13 to finish bogey-free.
Nordqvist lost her share of the lead early with a bogey on No. 1, but bounced back quickly, birdieing Nos. 2 and 3 to finish the front nine 1 under. She added three more bogeys on the back nine to finish T-11 at 2 under entering Sunday.
Angela Stanford, who sat T-5 after the second round, carded three birdies in her first five holes Saturday to sit in contention for 54-hole leader, but bogeys 11 and 13 and a double on 14 sent her down the leaderboard. She rebounded back with an eagle 18 to sit T-4 at 3 under alongside six other players including first-round leader Charley Hull, Korda and World No. 1 Jin Young Ko.
Korda finished the day 1-over 72 after carding five bogeys, four on the front nine, in her third round while Ko went 1-under 70.
