Korean Seung-yul Noh is determined not only to capture a first PGA Tour success but win for the victims of the tragic South Korean ferry disaster.

The ferry disaster took place off the island of Jeju where Noh contested the 2009 Ballantine’s Championship and the second of the tournaments at the Pinx Golf Club, and finishing T46th behind Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee.

Noh, and the majority of players contesting the event and including fellow Korean Y.E. Yang, is wearing special yellow and black ribbons as a mark of respect for the victims of the April 16th disaster.

Noh posted a third round 65 to move two shots clear of the field on 18-under par and he is the only player in the $US 6.8m event to have played three rounds of the TPC Louisiana course without a bogey.

It is his first career lead through three rounds on either the PGA Tour or European Tour where he has won the Maybank Malaysian Open, and comes in a city where sports, particularly the success of the NFL’s Saints, became an uplifting force after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Seung-yul Noh leads by two with a round to play in 2014 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)

Noh capped his round early with three birdies in his first four holes and eventually walked off recording just 25 putts.

And while he seeks to join countryman Y.E Yang and Seang Bang Moon as winners on the world’s biggest golf stage, the quietly-spoken 22-year old is also respectful of the terrible events back home

“Hopefully, if I win tomorrow it will make the Korean people very happy,” he said.

“It was very sad news for the Korean ship to sink, so hopefully another bogey-free round tomorrow, and hopefully some good news for the Koreans.”