Teen star Noh boosts Order of Merit bid

Teenage South Korean star Noh Seung-yul produced an impressive fourth place finish at the European Masters on Sunday to widen his lead on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit.

The 19-year-old carded a four-under-par 67 at the Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club for a 13-under-par 271 total, eight shots behind winner Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain.

Noh, who impressed Australian legend Greg Norman after playing together in the first two rounds, shot seven birdies against three bogeys and finished four shots ahead of second-ranked Marcus Fraser of Australia, who settled for joint 16th place in the event co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.

“It was much better than yesterday,” smiled Noh, who pocketed 126,700 dollars to widen his lead over Fraser to about 100,000 dollars on the rankings.

“I’m really happy that I could manage to score this week. I played nicely and I’m glad I put up some good scores to finish in the top-five. I feel much better now knowing that I’ve got a bit of a lead over Marcus after this week,” said Noh.

Noh, winner of the Malaysian Open in March, will head to Holland before returning to Korea for a week’s break.

He will then resume his chase for the prestigious Merit title at the Asia-Pacific Open in Japan.

Fraser is also bidding to become the first Australian to win the Asian Tour’s number one tag and will head to the Far East as well for five events in the coming months.

It promises to be an intriguing battle as Noh is aiming to become the youngest ever to become Asia’s number one but knows the big-money events at the end of the season can quickly change things around.

AFP