No Seung-yeol '11 Under Par 60'... "So Close, Dreaming of 59" (Summary)

No Seung-yeol Leads AT&T Byron Nelson 1R
Scott 2nd, Scheffler 4th, Kim Si-woo 10th
Bae Sang-moon, Kang Sung-hoon, Kim Sung-hyun Tied 17th

No Seung-yeol's flawless play.

On the 11th (local time), No Seung-yeol dominated the top of the leaderboard by shooting 11-under-par 60 in the first round of the PGA Tour AT&T Byron Nelson (total prize money $9.5 million) held at TPC Craig Ranch (par 71, 7,414 yards) in McKinney, Texas, USA. It was an exhilarating march where he could have recorded the 'dream 59' by reducing one more stroke. Adam Scott (Australia) tied for 2nd place (8-under-par 63), and Scottie Scheffler (USA) stood tied for 4th place (7-under-par 64).

No Seung-yeol is teeing off at the 10th hole in the first round of the AT&T Byron Nelson. [McKinney, USA = AP·Yonhap News]

No Seung-yeol collected one eagle and nine birdies. After a pleasant start with consecutive birdies on holes 1-2 and 5-6, he caught an eagle with a '2-on 1-putt' on the 9th hole (par 5). In the back nine, he added birdies on the 11th hole (par 4), consecutive birdies on the 14th-15th holes, and again on the 17th-18th holes. He powered his game with long drives up to 319 yards and an impressive 1.23 putts per hole. This marks his second career win after a long 9-year gap since his first victory at the Zurich Classic in April 2014.

No Seung-yeol is a player who rose through the national team ranks, winning the 2008 Asian Tour Media China and the 2010 European Tour Maybank Malaysia. He crossed over to the United States in 2012 through the 2011 Qualifying (Q) School and won the Zurich Classic. At that time, he became the fourth Korean PGA Tour champion in history, following K.J. Choi, Yang Yong-eun, and Bae Sang-moon.

No Seung-yeol enlisted in November 2017 and was discharged in August 2019. Since completing his military service, he has not achieved notable results. In the 2022/2023 season, he participated in 12 tournaments and made it to the final rounds nine times. His best result this season was a tie for 19th place at the RSM Classic last November.

From Korea, Kim Si-woo made seven birdies (one bogey) to tie for 10th place (6-under-par 65). 2013 winner Bae Sang-moon, 2019 champion Kang Sung-hoon, and rookie Kim Sung-hyun tied for 17th place (5-under-par 66), while An Byeong-hun stood tied for 30th place (4-under-par 67). Lee Kyoung-hoon, aiming for a third consecutive tournament win, recorded one eagle, one birdie, and two bogeys. He is struggling at a tie for 89th place (1-under-par 70). Kim Joo-hyung is tied for 104th place (even par 71).