Concord golf rookie Yealimi Noh heads to her 1st U.S. Women’s Open after taking 2nd last weekend

CONCORD, CA—LPGA tour rookie Yealimi Noh of Concord should be brimming with confidence as she begins her first U.S. Women’s Open at the Champions Golf Club in Houston Thursday morning.

The 75th Open is the final major of the year, delayed nearly six months from its originally scheduled weekend due to the coronavirus.

Noh just missed out on her first-ever pro golf victory last Sunday when she finished in a tie for second place at the Volunteers of America Classic in Texas, but the 19-year-old realized a dream getting to play side by side with some of her role models and holding her own while doing it.

Her second-place finish earned Noh $120,709, bringing her LPGA total for the year to $373,569.

Taking on former champions

The local golfer will be in a threesome with Jenny Shin of South Korea and amateur Lei Ye of China during the first two rounds at the Open. Thursday the group will play the Cypress Creek Course and Friday the Jackrabbit Course as they battle a field including nine former U.S. Open champions.

Noh tied for the lead after the second and third rounds of the VOA event. A double bogey on the final hole Saturday dropped her into a tie with major champions Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu. A Korean American, Noh took inspiration from many players who hail from the Republic of Korea, most notably LPGA Tour winners such as 20-time LPGA Tour winner Park and six-time champion Ryu.

Before the final round Noh said, “I’m super, super excited. I was telling my parents in the beginning of the week how it would be so cool to play with either one of them. I really wanted to play with them to see just up close how amazing they are and to learn.”

The final threesome of Noh, Park and Ryu each shot 70 on Sunday but 43-year-old Angela Stanford, another former majors winner, posted the low round of the day with 67 to win the title in her home state.

“I feel really good, and to be able to play with some of the greatest players in the world was a really good experience for me and I got to learn a lot from them. It was just a really fun learning experience,” said Noh.

Carondelet High

Noh, who has yet to get a driver’s license but can afford to buy the car of her dreams, attended Carondelet High School as a freshman and sophomore and was a standout for the Cougars golf team that won North Coast Section her first year. As a sophomore Noh was medalist when Carondelet was second at NCS and the Cougars then finished third in the Northern California championships.

She was home schooled the next two years while she honed her golf skills and earned a scholarship to UCLA. However, in the summer of 2018 she had a remarkable run of championships in prestigious amateur tournaments and then she helped the US to a victory in the Junior Ryder Cup that year in France. Those results helped her decide to forego college and turn pro.

Noh earned her LPGA Tour card last November by taking third in the grueling Q Series. She actually held the 54-hole lead and finished second in the 2019 Cambia Portland Classic while a non-member on the LPGA Tour. This year her best previous finish was a tie for third back in Portland this past September.

She has missed the cut only once in 14 starts of this strange pandemic-interrupted 2020 season.

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