Noh-problem as Korean wins maiden title

Seung-Yul Noh earned his first win on the PGA Tour as he finished top of the leaderboard in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Starting the week ranked 176^th in the world, the 22-year-old played more like a tour veteran than the second-year tour pro that he is, as he finished two shots ahead of Andrew Svoboda and Robert Streb.

Playing in the final group with Keegan Bradley, who started the day two shots off the lead but finished in a tie for eigth, Noh was calm throughout his final round, much to the surprise of his caddie Scott Sajtinac, who was in his first week of working with the South Korean.

“My mental game is stronger after last season. So I’m never nervous.” – Seung-Yul Noh

“He was unflappable,” said Sajtinac. “He was calm 100 percent today. Even to the point where he laughed a little but. I hadn’t seen him laugh the whole week.”

With the win,  Noh became the fifth Korean-born player to win on tour and he earned himself a spot in the Players Championship, the PGA Championship and the 2015 Masters in the process.

“The whole last season was very good experience for my game, especially mentally,” said Noh, who had to regain his card for this season at the Web.com Tour finals. “My mental game is stronger after last season. So I’m never nervous.”

Garrigus makes caddie tribute

Away from the leaders, it was an emotional day for Robert Garrigus and his caddie Brent Henley, whose father had died on Tuesday.

“I told his family I was going to play for them and go shoot the grass off this place,” said Garrigus, who shot a 64 and finished in a tie for fifth. “I didn’t know it would be Sunday in a 30-mile-an-hour hurricane.

“Brent started crying on 17 and I was saying, ‘Dude, we’ve only got to get through two more holes.’ I was already tearing up on the putt on 17.”