Yealimi Noh off to “slow” start in second LPGA season
CONCORD, CA — Yealimi Noh of Concord entered her second full-time season on the LPGA Tour this year still considered a rookie due to the abbreviated slate of tournaments last year amidst the pandemic.
Her early 2021 results on the scoreboard have not been up to par and she was fined $10,000 for a repeat slow play offense in the third round of the Kia Classic last month. The fine was more than double the amount she won that weekend by tying for 61st place.
In fact, the 19-year-old has only tallied $15,742 in official earnings over the year’s first four tournaments. In 2020, Noh had second- and third-place finishes among the shortened 16-tournament schedule and earned $415,307 in purses while missing only one cut.
Slow play rule
The $10,000 amount of the fine was because Noh is a repeat offender of the slow play rule, having been cited at her very first tournament as a tour member last January at the Gainbridge LPGA. She told Golfweek, “It’s all my fault. It will serve as a lesson. Of course, I will never do it again. I lost a lot of money.”
LPGA spokesperson Christina Lance says the Tour does not announce specifics on pace-of-play fines and only confirms information shared by players.
When Noh isn’t globe-trotting on the golf circuit, the former Carondelet High golfer is still living in her family’s Concord home. And, she has yet to get her driver’s license.
Her outstanding rookie season of 2020 placed her among the top 50 women golfers in the world. This year’s early results have been less robust with finishes of 44, 57 and 61 places plus the missed cut at the season’s first major, ANA Inspiration, the week her fine was announced. Last year, she had one missed cut and only three finishes of 44th or lower.
In this week’s Rolex World Rankings Noh has slipped to 51st in the world. Her highest ranking last year was 44th.
Jump Start
Noh will be looking to jump start her season this week at the LOTTE Championship at the Kapolei Golf Club in Oahu, Hawaii. Next week the Tour is in California at the HUGEL-AIR PREMIA LA Open
before events in Singapore and Thailand.
Noh will also be eyeing the first event on the June calendar–the US Women’s Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco—when she will have the first chance for a hometown feel in her professional career. With the improved COVID-19 numbers in the Bay Area she may be able to have her own personal rooting section.